The Author's Final Epilogue
by redphienix
Summary: Post Solstice extended ending. George has found something fascinating throughout the margins of many of the Author's works and seeks out Kip to assist in completing what she believes to be the Author's final epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

**The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 1**

It had been a relatively plain day, all things considered, when George had rushed into the lab gleefully exclaiming that she needed to see Kip about something "Intriguing!".

While Kip wasn't in the habit of leaving the lab needlessly throughout the day, she would occasionally make an exception for George's findings since she was uniquely affiliated with the Author's various works. Her findings in his writings had been invaluable many times in the past, such as helping create the algorithms necessary for the Rowbot tracking systems, or more efficient single bot batteries for maintaining key robot operation; A development that was extremely helpful while the sun was out and many utilities needed to be kept running as long as possible up until Niko was able to finish their quest.

All to say, if George thought something was worth rushing out of her office all the way to the lab, it was usually worth lending her an ear.

"You have GOT to see what George, in all her excellence, has pieced together from the very subtext of the Author's works!" George had exclaimed as she rushed to a nearby table to open the folder she had brought along with her.

Inside was a mis-mash of loose leaf paper, torn pages from previously published works, and sketches copied out of manuscripts both published and currently unreleased.

Kip came to examine what was being shown as George crossed her arms and closed her eye to take in her expected praise. Sadly, as Kip began to look through the works she felt her eyes begin to glaze over as she darted from one page to the next. Literally none of this went together or seemed to mean anything.

A torn recipe for a blue phosphor garnished shrimp salad; A few different drawings of basic robot models, most, if not all of which, were more heavily documented in this very lab; Detailed notes on various flowers from around the world with no real value beyond cataloging such information for posterity; And to tie it all together, a developed photo from back when the library was first completed in which George can be seen jumping in the air with excitement alongside a stoic Bookbot.

"I…" Kip shuffled through more of the pages to see yet more unassociatable pieces of literature, "-really don't think I understand in the slightest here, George." she offered a small and very confused smile to her friend who had taken to proudly posing with her fists on her hips above her folder.

To this George blinked her single dotted eye a few times before reaching a hand to her chest in exaggerated shock, "How silly of me not to explain! I've had so long to analyze these texts that it seemed so obvious to me. Throwing all this information at you at once must be quite a shock, so you see-" It's at this point she finally took the time to look down to her showcase and realized the problem, causing her excited expression fall to a nearly embarrassed glare.

None of it was what George had thought she had brought along.

"Ah."

"Ah?" Kip questioned.

"Ah. In my haste I grabbed the wrong file altogether. Well, while rare, even someone like myself can make a mistake when excitement goes and blurs one's perception." she shrugged, her embarrassment far removed as her usual optimistic attitude returned.

"George." Kip could feel the eccentric librarian fading away from what she intended to share to begin with.

"Right!" she exclaimed, raising a finger to the air. "My findings!... Oh but this won't do at all. It doesn't have remotely the same gravitas without the writings and figures directly before you, I couldn't possibly do it justice through spoken word alone."

Kip couldn't help but smile and shake her head toward George's priorities, but she could see where this was going as she gave a quick glance back to her current duties. In truth, there would be no harm to leaving early for the day entirely, so ducking out for however long this might take wouldn't be a problem.

"Alright, alright, let me tell a few people that I'm heading out and you can show me... whatever it is you've found this time." Kip said in as annoyed a fashion as she could manage, which wasn't nearly enough for George to pick up on. It's for the best, in truth Kip was always pleasantly surprised by just what the studious woman could find in all the Author's works.

* * *

"Can such a thing really be possible, though?" Kip called out from a mess of loose notes and half printed books.

True to her word, George refused to expound the entirety of her findings, but she couldn't help but drop a few interesting tidbits as they began the arduous task of finding the folder she was certain was 'right out in the open' in the mess of an office she maintained.

"Remind me, when is the last time the Author was ever wrong about anything, hmm?" George playfully chided as she stepped into view from around the clutter. Accusingly wagging a finger as she placed her hand on her hip and squinted her single die eye.

For just a moment Kip felt a short rush to her cheeks as she felt silly for her implication based entirely on how confident George was of the Author's work, or her own findings within them.

But that was all erased when a loud clatter of falling literature came from behind George sending papers falling through the air as she quickly rushed back to where she had been previously digging.

The air cleared, Kip continued rummaging through the papers looking for what George had promised earlier. Her thoughts dwelling on what she was told thus far.

'A means of seeing Niko again? On another world… The kid was only here for such a short time and yet we owe them so much. But really, how could the Author know so much about them? A means of seeing them again… how? What caveats exist, what cost, what risk?'

At the very least it was worth researching, but the questions and lack of information was more stress-inducing than joyful. The only thing that kept Kip searching was her own curiosity and George's optimism. She wasn't one to find joy in something dreadful afterall.

With a scowl Kip flipped the last of the papers from her pile to find yet another unrelated article. "Are you really sure you read the Author's work correctly? I mean, you can't even remember where you left it before dragging me along, maybe you weren't in the right headspace to begin with and merely misunderstood?"

A sturdy 'hmph' could be heard amidst the rustling of papers, "I know what I read, Kip, otherwise I wouldn't have torn myself from transcribing all of this to bring you here, now would I?"

Kip sighed as she moved onto the next pile. "All I'm saying is, maybe you read and extrapolated ideas you wanted to find rather than what was actually there. I mean, we all liked having Niko around, but why would the Author have that kind of information? You don't exactly just call the messiah back after their entire journey is complete. I mean, I just don't see how we could access an entire other world; Kinda felt like a one time event, you know?"

George made no effort to reply, simply losing herself in her search and unintentionally tuning much of the conversation out for the time being. To that Kip simply shook her head and continued digging.

This undoubtedly wouldn't be half an issue if George kept her office even slightly organized, but jumping from topic to topic in an attempt to find which pieces would be completed and placed in the library first, or which pieces 'deserved' to be showcased as soon as possible had left the room with more mess than walkable floor.

While the two of them went through the motions of searching for the missing file George saw fit to speak up to help pass the time, namely by focusing on the value of what she found.

"I must admit, George was worried the Author had sent her on a wild goose chase with this one. So many of these notes were written in the margins of completely unrelated scripts. A little here, a scribble there. Occasionally pages I received in terrible condition, already ripped and torn at the edges, would end up containing some of this puzzle." A soft chortle followed by another clamber of books falling as she haphazardly pulled folders from the bottoms of piles.

"I had to put multiple projects on hold because I couldn't determine if parts of the writing were meant for the topic at hand, or were notes meant for this grander reveal. But now I know, my brilliance saw through his puzzle and I feel like my excitement could vibrate me through the floor!"

Kip let out a sigh, "Maybe that's what happened to the folder."

"Now, now, Kip. No need for pessimism. When's the last time the brilliant George steered you wrong?" She wasn't wrong. And usually her optimism synced so well with Kip's own, but there was a little bit of annoyance in being dragged from work to sift through papers.

Nonetheless, Kip nodded along and redoubled her efforts. Annoyance or not, there really was no reason to be off towards a good friend about it.

"A-ha!" George exclaimed as she rushed back to slam the correct folder on the desk, gesturing for Kip to open it herself.

The folder looked the same as the previous manila folder, overfilled and with loose papers hanging out each corner. The one differing detail was the small black clover in the bottom right corner of the cover. Likely a leftover sticker from George's various printing runs for marking the Author's works seeing as all his pieces are signed with a clover instead of an actual name.

She could have sworn the clover grew lighter in tone while she looked over the folder. But as she glanced back to it it seemed to remain a simple black marking as before.

With full expectation of not understanding without George's helping hand, Kip flipped the folder open to reveal a plethora of images and text. Some showed locations or items she recognized, such as a diagram of the sun, information not fully understood by most but at least it was an item she recognized. Others showed overhead views of rooms she didn't recognize, a giant computer monitor filled with digits and fuzz amidst a sea of darkness and wires. Where was this? What was this?

As she began pulling the pages out, coating the table in a fresh layer of disorder, she had to grab hold of her tongue as a sense of déjà vu compelled her to announce it.

'Weird…'

But the feeling just got deeper and more complex as she glanced across the paper. This wasn't just a feeling. Why was this familiar? So little of it was anything she could have remembered.

A photo of the sky with notes scrawled in the corner labeling the color of each section? A circle in the empty skyline simply labeled 'sun'? Was this before the sun was put in place… then how is the sky so light?

A series of photos showing the sky going darker and darker before showing the same darkness and wires as the computer photo.

'That's… not right.'

But then she spotted something that brought that feeling of déjà vu right to her stomach before twisting fiercely.

An incredibly detailed map of the world. No. Not the world, but certainly a world. It was many times larger than this world, but, familiar… too familiar… Every inch of the map felt right.

George stood nodding to the side as Kip pulled the map aside and began to trace her finger along it.

'It.. should be about…' As sweat began to bead on her forehead, she stopped her now trembling finger on a section of the map that nearly perfectly matched the landscape of what they knew as their own world. 'Here..'

Everything they knew as the world was perfectly captured in this map as only a miniscule portion of a greater world.

"That's not right." Kip said defiantly. "We know that's not right. The Author isn't right about that, we've sent rowbots out for miles, there's nothing beyond the Barrens."

"Oh, but Kip." George sang, "What if it wasn't always like this!"

"But it has been! We've searched and searched, there's no evidence that anything ever existed beyond the Barrens! We've mapped out the results; I read the readings from each sample of the ocean's floor myself, we've sent bots around the entire world time and again and it's nowhere near this large! Even before the world began to collapse it wasn't like this! Land existed between each portion of the world and the barrens was a larger place altogether, but nothing at all like this..." Kip felt herself getting worked up and in her mind the only real question bugging her was 'why'. Not why does this map exist, why does she feel upset by it?

Why did this feel important and wrong and like she wasn't supposed to know? Did she always know? Know what?

Apparently entirely unaffected by Kip's reaction, George's excitement continued to bleed through as she began to explain more about what the pages divulge.

"There is so much more to this than just the true form of the world, Kip! Well, I suppose in the sense that's the largest discovery, but there's so much more, and the map is such a small part, truly."

Very little of this got through to Kip as she felt her head spinning with half memories and guessed explanations. Her legs began to buckle only for George to luckily catch her and lower her to a nearby chair.

"Oh, dear. Are you feeling the same way I felt when I saw this? Strange that it was the map that affected you; It was the in-depth visage of myself that did it for me." she said as she gestured over to a sheet showcasing multiple George's, all with different faces.

The world seemed to spin as Kip tried her best to focus on just one thing on the table and not let her eyes wander.

Luckily, the nausea that accompanied the sensory overload had come and passed, leaving only a vague mess of disconnected half thoughts to add to Kip's usual mental load.

"What?" came an already exhausted Kip. "What in the world did you stumble across and what was that?"

Already back to beaming at her achievement, George practically bounced to her feet as she began explaining.

"I think the author has been trying to piece together hints towards a greater truth he has known all along! Something, that perhaps, we have all known to some degree but were made partially incapable of seeing the whole of…" With a sudden realization that it might be rather difficult to simplify the hows and whys of what was found, George began to rub her chin in thought.

Kip let out a sigh as she carefully made her way back to her feet and began flipping some of the contents of the file around, more to pass the time as George collected her thoughts than anything else.

"George, just take it one thing at a time then. The map, why does the world look even larger than it was before it began deteriorating? Sure the world was once larger, but not nearly by that much. There's so much more on this map… and it 'feels' right for some reason."

"Ah, brilliant idea! Yes, the world used to be that extensive! Well… perhaps not THIS world, but also yes, this world? Oh geez." Despite her struggles, George had returned to her enthusiasm on the subject at had.

"How can it be both this world and not this world then?" Kip asked as she flipped through yet more notes. So many of these were marked with clovers, as was normal for the Author, but she couldn't help but feel like they were changing in her peripheral as she moved the pages across the table.

George slowly rubbed her chin as she mulled over how to drop the details without throwing Kip into sheer disbelief, "So, the world we know is a sort of… memory brought to life according to the Author. A memory he helped collect from all those around him who helped work on his project at the time. The reason you, we, feel familiar with the map he created here is simple. It's because that's the world we once knew. It's not this world, but it is? Oh dear."

George let out an admittedly aggravated sigh as she pulled out some specific pages from the folder, more to center herself than to use in her explanation.

"The world we've always known, or think we've always known, is just the section of the other world that he was able to finalize for his project. The project was this, all of this, us, all of us, everything."

"What are you saying, he made us?" Kip's mind was strangely still as the only logical line this brought was one she wasn't willing to think of. The thought of not being real or not existing as she thought she did was too much to allow, so everything instead stood still for her.

George shook her head but struggled to look back to Kip as she attempted to continue, "I think so, in a way, but in a greater way, very much no. He…" She cleared her throat as she began to glare down to the papers, clearly irritated by the difficulty this was presenting despite all her practice with understanding and conveying the Author's works.

"It's not so much that the Author made us so much as he created a machine that could capture all of us in a moment in time, from what was within his reach before the end of our world. Er, the other world. The old world?"

"The real world?" Kip interjected, a tinge of defeat tied to her words.

Again, George shook her head. "No, it's not that simple. Or… maybe it is… or maybe it was and isn't anymore? That's unimportant now. We're here and that's that. And the reason we're here is because the Author created a machine to perfectly capture and continue our world in another reality. We are very much still us, we existed over there! That's why these notes seem so familiar. It's because we used to know all of this! This used to be our lives, our world! Isn't that fascinating!" she looked back to Kip, practically glowing with her joy towards such a complex discovery.

Kip sat back in the chair and rubbed idly at her forehead, her eyes shaking with her very thoughts. "Y...yeah. Incredible…"

George began to tap along the table's edge, diving into her own thoughts. It was painfully clear that Kip wasn't handling this reality bursting realization well, at least not all at once, but she knew what dwelling on bits and pieces of this had done to her over the past few weeks. The closer she got to understanding things, the harder it gets, until she finally found herself on the other end of clarity and it all stopped being such a scary concept. The only right way to share this was to share all of this so that Kip might skip the existential fear and fall right into understanding the truth of how things are now.

"Kip?" George put her hand on Kip's shoulder as she spoke.

"Mhm?"

"This is gonna get harder before it gets easier but I promise it will get easier if you keep listening, okay? Ol' George is here for you and I wouldn't be sharing this if it wasn't worth sharing, I promise that much."

"Mhm."

Taking a breath, George began again, "The world was ending and no one could save it, to put it bluntly. So the Author came up with a clever solution. He, alongside some fellow scientists," George nudged Kip gently, "Scientists like you, designed a machine that could capture a sort of singular photo of the world through the lens of everyone present's memories. They aimed to breath life into memory, to allow the world to live again. We are those memories."

"A shadow of the old world? What does that even mean for us?!" Kip's voice uncharacteristically approached a growl, her sunny disposition shattered for the moment.

George frowned but this wasn't unexpected, "We're that world's second chance, Kip. We are what happens when a world on the brink of destruction gets to live to a new tomorrow."

Kip opened her mouth to retort but instead her eyes simply began to water and she quickly clammed up as she wiped her face down with her sleeve.

"The Author's team created a machine that was meant to give everyone a second chance. His background in artificial intelligence let him create a system that could recreate sentience again and again, whenever it was turned on. We are within that machine-"

"Toys on a screen?"

"No, Kip! It's nothing so simple, this was his life's work. Literally, as in a sense he died to make this happen. In another sense he lived on here, with us. This entire world is very much real, they were able to create an entire world and place themselves within it through their memories. But in order to, I don't know, give everything a fresh start? Things were altered."

George walked to a nearby shelf and picked up a step ladder that she sat beside the table to use as a seat as she spoke.

"The machine was meant to perfectly recreate the world and those who lived in it, but there were problems since they didn't have access or the means to properly finalize everyone's memories into their coding. They did what they could, captured what they could, recreated what they had on hand. The world became smaller; The people… modified to no longer remember things as they were before, but instead as the world was now." George coughed to ease the urge to choke up on the tension and continued, "It was important to some of the team that no one know the old world existed, or that the world wasn't always like this. Anyone who worked on the project," Sorrowfully, she looked into Kip's eyes, "were made to entirely forget such a project had happened."

"Then why the notes? Why tell us at all?"

"The Author didn't agree. Or… he changed his mind, perhaps? Things hadn't gone entirely as he planned from the start."

George mulled through the papers until she found the picture of the dark room filled with wires. "The machine was only able to escape the destruction of the old world by being given a physical place inside it's own coding. Something I can't begin to pretend to fully comprehend… Surprising, I know." She gave a small smile which, to her relief, did receive a similar response from Kip.

"Perhaps it was the complexity of writing such a thing into existence, or perhaps the Author's experience in artificial intelligence bled through into the basis of the project, but that machine gained sentience as well. There's a lot to unpack with that detail, but that can wait. But to begin with, that wasn't part of the plan. Tackling that 'issue' is part of what limited so much of the world's scope, and perhaps in trying to figure out how to 'fix' the machine the Author was given time to reconsider any modifications made to those of us who now live within its world."

George sighed as she closed her eye for a moment, "I'm getting oh so very lost in all of this and I'm supposed to be guiding you through it, oh deary me."

Kip let out a half-hearted chuckle as she leaned forward in her chair. No matter how ground shaking a revelation as this was, she was still thankful to have help in understanding things.

"Where was I? World ending, project to capture and recreate it, modifying our memories so we can truly live again, the accidental sentience… Ah, the notes! As the machine approached its final days of development it gradually became just the Author who was left to work upon it. He struggled to write away the coding that brought the machine to life; It was meant only to cultivate life, not join it, but if you ask George, I'd wager that in putting the machine inside it's own coding some, hoho, wires, must have crossed." She let out a small laugh.

"Afterall, it was created to create sentient life upon a, well mostly, perfectly conceived version of the past world. Put that machine in its own world and suddenly it becomes just as much an inhabitant of that world as you or I. So it's very code would practically demand it make itself sentient, correct? Oh I do so love dissecting the story at large through all these messages of his."

"George." Kip gave her a side eye as she wasn't fully ready to start taking rides off the various jumping off points this all presented.

"Hmph. Well I thought that made a reasonable enough possibility." George huffed, though she could tell Kip appreciated the guess all the same.

"Anyways, as the Author worked away on the machine's sentience, he began to suspect he'd need our help in the matter. I mean some of us were involved in the conception of the project in the first place, so he must have known that by sneaking hints passed the machine and directly towards us we might eventually understand and be able to assist him in fixing the machine, not that that matters anymore."

"How in the world does that not matter anymore?" Kip exclaimed, fighting the urge to leap back to her feet as the cogs started turning to what a threat a 'living world' could mean for them.

"Oh dear, please relax, that ended up not being OUR job in the first place! Niko and the Author's children were able to solve that riddle." George crossed her arms and nodded with pride "Thanks to all our help that capable bunch was able to do things we hadn't the slightest how to accomplish. Things even the Author was unable to do on his own."

"W..what? His children? And Niko?... The darkness, it's not just familiar in that murky memory way, we were there weren't we? When we last saw Niko? That really happened? I thought… I thought that horrible day was all a dream. We woke up and moved on as if none of it happened, Niko was gone and the sun was shining… I thought I just had a nightmare and slept through their journey's end..."

"Now you're getting it! We WERE there! In the darkness that the machine resides in; That was just after Niko completed their final quest here, one the Author referenced many times throughout these notes. Apparently it was a very risky endeavor, not that we have to pretend not to understand that part of it. That wasn't… a very 'pleasant' evening."

Kip stared blankly toward the ground.

After everything that had been divulged, realizing that night happened as she remembered it was among the most shocking.

Everyone huddled together in fear.

Sending Niko out into the most dangerous thing she had ever seen.

Watching those around her succumb to the squares one by one until it was only a few of them hiding in George's back office.

Kip's eyes darted towards a shelf in the corner; That had been where she was last before the squares finally tore apart everything in her reach.

That's where they had gotten her and everything had simply stopped…

It wasn't immediate, it was terrifying, but in seconds everything had simply ended.

No more fear, no more thinking, no nothing, until she found herself in that dark room.

Bewildered and lost, but… she couldn't remember why at the time, and then there was Niko…. And then she had woken up, all of it came back in the same fuzzy detail as a bad nightmare at the time.

But now? Now it was all vivid. It was real. It happened. That was what the 'living world' was capable of and it had been horrifying.

They had been reset.

Which means this really was a world within the machine.

All of this story is true.

'So we're fake… no, so we're real?'

"The half memories, what is what then? My past life peaking through?..." Kip knew the answer but she hoped George could just tell her she's wrong.

"Precisely." she nodded, "Mostly. I don't know if it's because their modifications were imperfect, or if it was the Author's doing, but it seems our memories were still all here, just, shielded from us."

'I feel like I have two lives contained in my mind and it's going to make my head burst.' Kip closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands.

"Regardless, seeing key details from our past seems to shatter whatever grasp the modifications were intended to have on us, not to mention the memories were intended to be held by the machine and the machine regularly, er, 'spread' those ideas while it was corrupting itself."

"Wait, it was doing what?"

"The squares! That's what the squares were, parts of the machine destroying itself due to, well a lot of things." She tapped on her chin lightly.

"Part of why the Author was so worried about the machine's sentience was because it began to tear at the program itself. Sentience for an AI involves granting the AI the ability to write and modify its own code. That was a problem when the AI wasn't fully convinced of the reality it was creating. That's why Niko was brought in, partially. The machine needed to be confronted because it was attacking itself with those squares, but that's not the only way it was disrupting the world."

"The collection of detached memories were often shredded into pieces and tossed out throughout the world. They gave a sense of déjà vu to most, but some became more aware of the world at large."

George pointed to a figure of a simple robot from within the file, "Sometimes the machine's disruptions gave us ideas we were supposed to forget altogether this time around."

Kip reached over and held up the figure for herself. This looked similar to the blueprint in the false folder George had brought that morning, but there was something different about it…

The writing was her own, but she didn't… directly remember creating this.

Her own documentation on the basic bot model was back at the lab and was slightly different… not in design, simply in where she wrote her notes… in how she dotted that i or crossed those t's.

"I suppose we would have figured things out eventually without the Author's help if the machine had kept dispersing our memories like that. Of course maybe that wouldn't have happened since the world was so close to the brink of destruction; It's hard to say, I must admit." George shrugged as she spoke. "But the machine unintentionally influenced a lot of our lives without us knowing, and now here we are, fully aware and- Oh My God I Forgot To Share Why I Brought You Here Because Of All Of This!"

Kip blinked at George's sudden shift in enthusiasm, "Wha-"

"The Author needed your help! We can link this reality with another! Thanks to the excellent research from yours truly, I've already pinned down many of the details the Author had figured out along with my own thoughts on the matter, but in the end both he and I have come to the conclusion that we needed a scientist like you to help complete this new project! Well, not LIKE you, exactly you to be more accurate."

Kip continued to blink at the entire shift of the conversation, prompting George to uncharacteristically cough into her fist to clear her throat.

"Sorry, it's just such an exciting goal the Author had and he was convinced that yours was the mind that could make his plans bare fruit." George quickly pulled out some of the papers that, in not a very helpful way, showed a mess of scribbles that seemed to focus on how Niko was brought to this world. "We have a cat to track down; We might even get to talk with the machine itself if we end up on the right track! How exciting~"

"I don't think they enjoy being called a cat… and what? Is that remotely safe after how close the world came to ending itself?"

"Oh come now, Niko already did the hard work, we just have to continue the Author's final epilogue is all!"


	2. Chapter 2

**The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 2**

Kip blunk in surprise before dropping to a scowl, "You want to tear them back here after all they went through?!"

George began rapidly tearing through the notes upon the table until she found the one she needed, all the while attempting to calm Kip's worries.

"Oh, no, no, no, no! Not THEM to HERE, we become a part of THEIR world!" This, yet again, left Kip stunned by the influx of information as she waited on George to explain.

Before the two of them lay a tattered paper; Taped together and ragged as if it was balled up and tossed out multiple times prior to this.

"At least that's what George feels is a proper name for what seemed to be his original plan. It has a nice ring doesn't it?" George looked up in thought for a moment "Maybe not, maybe that's a little redundant to call it his 'Final Epilogue'. I mean, an epilogue is the closing of the story as is, by definition it's the final-"

"George!" Kip sternly threw her voice at her friend's apparent lack of focus.

George responded with a soft chortle to her own manners, "Right, right, right. Well, while I'm sure the Author is happy with how things have turned out now, the original goal of the project wasn't to end up quite like this, and we can do something about that!"

To this, George pointed to the paper itself and began to draw Kip's attention to the various doodled images around the page.

"The original goal of the project was to meld our universe with another; In every respect making our realities one and the same. Effectively, creating a second version of them-, er, ourselves, and then placing us out of reach of the imminent disaster I so desperately wish I could describe, and then bringing our copies to a safe reality. We are our old world's lifeboats! And while it's exciting to say we now float safely on our own, George PERSONALLY thinks it would be much more impressive to say we arrived safely at our destination as well." She couldn't help but nearly sing with her excitement as she turned her phrase.

"That's where we would be if things hadn't gotten so out of hand in the final hours," She pointed to a figure showing their smaller world circled with an arrow pointing to a blank pit of ocean on a world Kip didn't recognize in the slightest.

"The original plan was put on hold, despite their research finding a place to drop us off in the new reality…" George sighed. "Instead, as the world died around him and time slowed to a crawl, the Author diverted resources from this ending and did what he could to salvage their work. He did everything he could to finish the process of moving physical matter into the code and used that to put the machine inside itself so the project had a chance in the first place. He then used this same system in conjunction with the research they had done to find us a new reality to create his patch to fix the world."

"You mean, Niko?"

George nodded.

"Our ending was cannibalized to save us as a whole, Niko was isolated from their reality and brought here because it was the best the Author could do with what he had on hand. The Author knew he needed an outsider to interact with the machine itself since it was losing faith in the reality it was built to create." George's voice fell more quiet as she pointed to a list of shorthand notes mentioning the machine's sentience and the negative effect it was having on the project. Notes apparently taken in haste upon the Author's first noticing.

"He… couldn't use us since the machine saw us as simple code, and he couldn't finish the fix himself as things fell apart around him. He made a gamble. Wrote the story of a messiah, adjusted that story time and time again up until his final hours on the other side. In the end, he succeeded thanks to Niko and their tie to god. It's all pretty remarkable, if I might say so."

"If he cannibalised all they DID accomplish towards the ending.. If no one from the other side is still there to help us and if we don't remember a single thing from the development in the first place.. Even after having broken through to what memories still remain.. I just don't see, how are we supposed to help the epilogue happen in the first place?" Kip groaned as she attempted to see things with George's conviction. "It sounds like whatever hope that ending had died with the old world. We're lucky to have what we have, and we owe that to Niko and the Author's final efforts. What else is there to do?" She tossed her hands towards the crumpled note in exasperation.

George fell quiet, looking intently into Kip's eyes.

"I thought you'd be up to the challenge, Kip. I don't know exactly what you did in the other world, but the Author's notes… Something tells me that you're the one to solve this." She gestured to a drawing of the sun upon the paper, "And he didn't delete everything, he wasn't careless. Apparently, what remains of the code was dummied out inside the physical data of yellow phosphor. We find as much yellow as we can, and we can solve this transportation riddle!" Geoge gave an elated expression to Kip who only looked down to the page in thought.

George let her glowing endorsement fall as she realized Kip wasn't reacting nearly as she had expected.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, George asked, "Kip? Is something wrong here? I really expected you to jump at the challenge… After dedicating so much time to keeping the world moving when we expected it all to end, I just thought maybe you might be getting a little bored of tuning robots in our stable little world when there is so much more to dive into. I kind of, well, I thought this would be exciting and that after I dropped only a few details you'd be rallying our newly dubbed "Delectable Detective Duo" as you swiped up my notes and marched to the door!"

Kip only stared to the page and offered a shrug, leading to a moment of silence.

"I've barely set foot outside in THIS world, and now I find out there's a whole… There WAS a whole other world, and now there's a chance to see an entirely different world by connecting to Niko's?" Kip looked back to George, clearly distraught as her eyes held nothing but worry.

"I know numbers, George. I know robots and code. I haven't set foot outside of the city center since I was young, and honestly? Now I wonder if I was even the one who did that since I can't tell if this is a case of false memories or the old world blending with the new… And you drop all this on me at once and say I have to go on some wild adventure to find the rarest form of phosphor we have and figure out how to read the very code of objects in our perceivable reality and then FINISH that code before somehow compiling it into existence- how in the world do you expect me to do any of this! I'm not right for this, I couldn't possibly be…"

George rubbed her chin, "Well, Kip, maybe you're right?"

"Good pep talk." Kip muttered.

"No, Kip, it's just. This goes well over George's head, and the only person she could possibly think of to better handle this would be you. But if you don't think you can do it and you don't want to try, then what is there for George to say?" With a sigh, George started collecting the papers and putting them back inside the folder.

"Wait… I mean… I don't remember anything about-"

George stopped sorting as she looked back to her prematurely defeated friend, "Look. That doesn't matter. Or maybe it does… Regardless, the only chance we have of finding out if it's possible is giving this a shot, right? So do you want to try and figure out what makes our world tick or would you rather go back to the same old robot troubles day in and day out?"

Kip sighed, George's little guilt trip sorting the papers was obvious and shameless, but her words really did hit home.

George leaned on the table quietly as she waited on Kip to respond. Clearly hopeful, she couldn't help but fall dangerously close to offering puppy eye to the conflicted scientist.

Kip turned her gaze upward as she mulled things over. The stress of hearing all this was waning for the moment and George had done a good job of turning the mood around, so all that was left was genuinely considering the request.

Putting everything on hold back at the lab wasn't exactly a big deal. Mostly because the world wasn't ending and her team was more than capable without her so the "everything" that would be put on hold was actually pretty minimal.

"It could be a dead end, you know? Who's to say enough of the ending still exists, or that we can do anything about it even if it does, or that we can do ANYTHING with the yellow phosphor that even allows us to SEE the code?"

George frowned as things seemed a lot less possible under the admittedly obvious questioning Kip threw out.

"But… All said? This could be fun! And who really knows what we'll find. If by the end we just gather some knick knacks and find ourselves settling on the ending we have today, well, that doesn't sound too bad? I mean, it's already incredible that you were able to figure this out in the first place!" Kip found her own enthusiasm returning as the reality of things became more normal and less of a scary existential torrent blindsiding her. There was so much to study, so many things to reconsider and examine again now that she knew the nature of her world. But that could wait.

"Exactly!" George exclaimed, a bounce in her step as she began to gather some odds and ends and throwing them all in a backpack. "George must admit, it's been a while since I've had time to simply wander the great outdoors or visit any friends of mine! It's usually them visiting me, seeing as I'm always busy as can be." Throwing the pack on and turning back to her friend she asked, "So is there anything you'll be wanting to bring or are you trusting me to pack the snacks? Oh, it has been so long since George last flew!"

Again, Kip found herself dumbfounded and blinking in surprise.

"Wh...What do you mean, 'flew'?" While the Author had used a flying machine much in the past, they didn't exactly have access to it now, did they? Besides, piloting it was another matter.

"Don't you remember that lovely little lad from the void room?" George asked as she ushered her friend out of the office and towards the library proper.

Kip shook her head as she allowed herself to be guided out, "Uh… no? I don't believe I did… I mean, most of that room feels like a dream still as is, if you recall."

George covered her lower face in near shock, "Did you not meet a single one of his children? Oh dear, it must fall on me to introduce you then!"

As she spoke the two of them made their way around the desk and into a corner of the library where a boy sat flipping through some books haphazardly. He wore a black hat with goggles that seemed more in place to hold a decorative feather than they were for actually protecting his eyes; His large green glasses handled that job well enough.

Kip could tell he was the one well before George could manage her flourish in introducing the child. His name was Cedric, and while she wasn't sure exactly where the memory came from or how, she knew he was definitely the Author's child.

"As I was saying~" Came George's voice, nearly breaking into song as she attempted to break Kip out of her thoughts. "You remember when I mentioned that the Author's children had assisted Niko in their journey?"

Kip nodded as she attempted to remember other children to no avail. Perhaps when she saw them, if she saw them.

"Soon after they finished SAVING THE WHOLE WORLD," George tilted her head and beamed pure joy towards Cedric as she spoke.

This caused the white haired child to brush the back of his head and attempt to interject with a "It was really not a big deal, Ms. George. Father would have-" but this fell on deaf ears. Or rather it fell before the more assertive voice of George as she continued.

"So very thankful for that. Well, soon after Cedric came to visit the library! Imagine George's surprise when someone from a potential dream showed up out of the blue! He's the lad who inherited his father's flying machine; Not to mention being half the reason we're going on this adventure in the first place!" She said as she bounced the folder from before in her hand.

"The sweetheart came to drop off some of the Author's personal things and to ask if I'd mind us talking from time to time, little things, about his father for one, but also just about the world in general. He's a very inquisitive one, much like you, Kip!" Cedric, having given up interrupting George when she's going on an excited ramble, had found himself falling into a more and more meek mood as George fit nicely into the mindset of an aunt, bragging about and teasing a nephew with ease.

"That's… very sweet, and I have a million questions I assure you, but first and foremost I have to ask." Kip began, leading to George pausing long enough to nod excitedly toward her, gesturing for Kip to let it rip.

"Are you, truly and honestly, expecting a child to fly us?!" She nearly shouted as she pointed both her hands towards the now shocked and embarrassed third wheel in this conversation.

"I'm sure he's had the machine for a while but, a child!? How do you even know that many people can fit in the machine; I remember what the Author's machine looked like and it definitely couldn't fit the three of us and now-" Quietly Cedric could be heard attempting to interrupt.

"-And you really thought you could just drop this on me with no opposition? Shouldn't we be taking some time to talk in general, I haven't seen the Author in years and you found his CHILD and you expected to just gloss over that so we can go on a fun trip?!-" Cedric cleared his throat as best he could while George arched her shoulders and began waving her hands in a 'calm down' gesture, clearly a touch surprised by the reaction.

"-Where are we even supposedly going in the first place? Do we even NEED to be flying, or did you just see an excuse for fun?" Cedric coughed a bit louder only for George to take the reigns yet again as she saw a softball question she could answer.

"The Glen! Of course! We have to start gathering yellow phosphor, and the easiest one George can recall the location of would be her die, that she might have, possibly, in George's defense she didn't know she'd need it again, traded for some pretty ink bottles after reacquiring it from Niko… Heh, heh. Whoops! But no matter! I know where the trader usually resides!"

Both Kip and Cedric couldn't help but shake their heads to George's admission.

Kip raised a finger and looked sternly into the air beside George in an attempt to center herself before her voice finally found footing so she could coldly delivered, "George. We can get to the Glen a number of ways without resorting to dangerously taking flight with an underage pilot. There is an elevator to the Glen near here that will only take a short while and doesn't involve-" her voice began to raise, still maintaining an air of civility in front of the library patrons and Cedric, "Risking Our Lives For A Quick Jolt Of Adrenaline, as you seem so bent on doing."

"It's really quite safe, Ms. Silverpoint." Cedric quietly called from behind George. He quickly made his way into the conversation proper and cleared his throat, "I've been flying my father's flying machine for as long as I can remember, and after the scare we endured when setting the world machine straight I've taken the time to give it a few convenient upgrades so that it can seat us all with ease." He flashed a smile, a bit proud of the work he'd been able to put into his inherited vehicle.

"There's is really no danger at all! The skies are clear and I know a safe place to touch down as well. It really would be much faster this way, Ms. Silverpoint." More quietly, he added, "-and Ms. George did seem excited to fly; Practically begged me to join in so she'd have the chance."

Kip maintained a frustrated scowl as she fell into her thoughts before finally bursting with an aggravated growl, "Fine! Just. Fine. But no one gets to say a single word if I get sick from any aerial stunts."

George gleefully pulled her friends into a group hug, "George knew you'd accept~ And she promises it will be worth the infinitesimally small risk! It's been ages since she last got to fly, this will be a delight!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 3

Kip held onto the back of the seat before her as her stomach took a turn.

Flying for Kip was interesting, but could mostly be described as a full body workout thanks to how stiff she felt. It wasn't entirely the height that had her feeling uneasy and rigid with worry, it was the circumstance. A young pilot, a machine that is one of a kind, and the only justification for their being there being George's potentially misplaced sense of adventure.

The machine did feel sturdy, that much was calming, and it had definitely seen some changes since she had last seen it in the Author's hands. Three rows of seats, six seats total had been installed onto a wider and more sturdy frame. If anything, Kip would wager Cedric had taken the entire machine apart and started from scratch with how fundamental the adjustments had been.

Seeing the state of his machine, and how confidently he maneuvered through the air, Kip had to admit that Cedric did seem to know what he was doing. And that was more than a small relief.

"Now, wasn't this worth it, Kip?" Came George's voice, easily fighting through the engine and the rush of wind around them.

Finally finding the will to break her stare from her own lap, Kip looked to her friend only to see George beeming, hands balled up in excited fists practically ready to start cheering at the opportunity to leave the safety of the ground again.

Kip couldn't help but smile and without admitting her discomfort she slowly raised her head to look over the sides of the cockpit toward the surrounding skyline, momentarily silencing every dissenting thought she had harbored up to this point.

Despite having left the ground at midday, hours seemed to pass in mere moments as the city skyline of Refuge dissolved over the horizon and was instead replaced with the somehow calmer light of the Glen. The sky was a dim blue edging towards green as it touched the ground below them, the sun's strength clearly felt but altered by the thick marsh air of the Glen. Instead of the harsh glow the sun showered the Refuge with, comparatively the Glen held a humid twilight hour through most of its day.

If only for the change from what she was used to, it really felt like a fresh breeze of life to both see and feel the world in this state, and the rapidly passing landscape below them was the cherry on top. Lush green grass, phosphor trees soaking and projecting energy from the sun with their own glow, and waterways criss crossing the ground. No other means had been constructed to get such a perfect view of the world from above, it was the Author's notes or nothing before this point for Kip and to be honest, it made her feel small, but content to see the world like this.

Kip let out a sigh, relaxing her shoulders as things finally seemed to slow down; As she finally seemed to slow down. Her mind pushing further from the stresses and data of work and just stopping here for a moment, it was nice.

"Well?" George, now somehow sprinkling more pep than Kip thought possible into her voice, broke through the serenity.

Kip groaned which momentarily caused George's die'd face to wince expecting more complaints. "You were right, George, as you usually are. What can I say?"

Immediately bouncing back with pride, George tossed an arm skyward in cheer, "Yes! George knew you would come around to her way of thinking~ A moment away from work is one thing, but an opportunity to have that moment in style? In the skies!? Now that is what George is all about!"

Accepting her loss, Kip couldn't help but smile in front of such an attitude as she went back to the sights available over the side of the machine.

Satisfied, George directed her attention to the pilot himself as she leaned forward in her seat to a reckless degree as if the rather mellow wind they endured in the cockpit would drown out her voice otherwise.

"And who do we owe for allowing us to soar through the skies instead of cooping up in an elevator? A smart cookie most assuredly! Cedric, George must say as Kip seems far too distracted to voice it, that both of us are so very impressed by your skills behind a propeller, dearie. This really is the only way to travel!" she called his way before leaning even further to properly pinch his cheek.

This sudden action shocked the occupied lad, causing the machine to jerk to the left as the young pilot found himself losing his usually cool and collected demeanor in the face of George's familial admiration 'assault'.

As the machine jolted off center, both George and Kip were slammed to their sides; Kip into the door she was previously peering over and George collapsing between Kip and Cedric, only loosely held by her seatbelt as she fell.

"Ouch." George groaned from the mess of limbs she had become.

"You think?" Kip called, rubbing her nose as Cedric began profusely apologizing in his embarrassment as he re-steadied the machine.

A short and now tensely quiet ride came to an end as Cedric effortlessly landed the craft in a clearing south of the village. Kip could feel her anxiety towards the flight rush back as the wheels stuttered across the ground as the flying machine slowed, but aside from a slight shiver from the excitement, the landing went off without a hitch.

Taking a deep breath she reached for the door and made her way to solid ground yet again, what a relief.

"I have to say, Cedric. That wasn't… as bad as I thought it might be. Thank you." Kip managed. "Mostly." She snarked towards George who had rushed around the flying machine to meet the two again.

"I tried to tell you it wasn't a big deal, Ms. Silverpoint. I have friends near here, so I have plenty of reason to fly in and out of the Glen pretty regularly." Cedric smiled at her thanks.

Unphased by Kip's snarky comment, George beamed as she rushed to Cedric, "George really had nearly forgotten the experience of soaring through the skies, she must thank you dearly again and again! To have such a talented little pilot on hand, we will certainly complete this quest in no time!"

Cedric rubbed the back of his head, partly embarrassed by the shake down he put them through when he lost his cool and partially worried that George's praise would evolve to unwanted dotting any moment now.

Luckily, she quickly turned back to Kip sensing her annoyance. "And Kip, George must apologize for-" George squinted slightly as she shrugged her way through the word, "endangering, she supposes, us ever so slightly right after you showed so much worry towards flying in the first place."

Kip huffed, but the fight was long drained from her, and an apology was enough since nothing really went awry. "Fine, but please don't interrupt the pilot on any future flights."

"Future flights! So you WILL let us do this again, oh thank goodness! George thought you'd force us to walk to any future locales!"

Crossing her arms and closing her eyes Kip turned away from the craft, "It was much faster than walking, even with the elevators. That's for sure. And it was… fun. For a while at least. And, again, Cedric really is a master behind the controls if he could recover from that fiasco. My worries were misplaced. We can fly again, so long as Cedric allows us."

Cedric reached up and adjusted his goggles, a sure smile clear as day on his face. He clearly found this form of flattery more agreeable than George's various 'excessive' praises.

"Thank you, Ms. Silverpoint. I'd love to fly with you both… ahem." He adjusted himself, suddenly feeling too informal "I'm happy to be of assistance." Cedric nodded his head and, still pleased with Kip's praise, allowed himself to add "Anytime!"

Having recovered from his flight embarrassment and put at ease, the boy placed a finger to his chin and slowly turned along the horizon before pointing forward, "Now, the local village should be shortly this way, if you both are ready?"

Kip looked before them to the damp greenery, phosphor trees, and vines intertwining amidst the land before rather needlessly brushing herself off after the flight and giving a beckoning wave over her shoulder as she set to lead the crew forward.

As George hastily joined behind Kip, Cedric was left blinking as he expected to guide them. But with a shrug he gave a quick jog to match Kip's pace.

In moments they had settled on their way, Kip and Cedric leading the way as George followed loosely behind. She fluctuated between rushing forward to be right alongside them, tossing queries or leaning in on conversation for a moment, all before quickly falling behind as she found reason to examine the flora they passed. She wouldn't struggle to keep up if she wasn't so quick to break out a notebook to compare illustrations with the real article, but no one minded as the atmosphere around them really left this part of their trek feeling carefree.

"George, you're certain the trader lives near here?" Kip called out to the gleeful librarian as she appeared to doodle her own sketch of a phosphor tree with a thorned vine encircling its base.

'A dead end would be one way to make a mess of things, that's for sure.' she thought. In all truth their entire theory was built on scraps, failing to acquire any yellow phosphor in the first place would cut things short.

"George is positive! She met the fellow right outside the village alongside a shepherd and his flock. He was very knowledgeable about the location, and my stars the antiquities and particulars he had accrued! It was such a shame he wasn't interested in any of the books George had brought along or maybe she'd still have our missing die…" She let out a huff in a moment of mock pouting before quickly drawing her attention back to the path rather than their destination.

Not entirely convinced, Kip replied "Well… as long as you're certain, I suppose that's the best we have."

The loose path ahead of them was certainly leading towards civilization, not that any of her doubts pertained to that. The trees became more dispersed as they walked. A side effect of logging done prior to the sun's temporary disappearance before the rationing of phosphor resources had begun. Soon enough the sun's presence would fully revitalize the phosphor trees growth and the forests could see some careful development again, but that time isn't now. That time may not even be necessary if the epilogue worked half the way George had made it sound it would, now that Kip thought about it.

The thought of what they might accomplish had Kip antsy, and the allure of seeing these lands in person again since her time helping setup the research station was wearing off.

"Cedric?" Kip spoke in an attempt to ease those feelings.

"Yes, Ms. Silverpoint?"

There was one thing troubling her that talking out might help with.

"What do you know about the epilogue?" she asked, "I mean, if your father wrote it… then did he ever mention much about it?"

Cedric frowned as he turned away from her and back to the ground ahead of them.

"Well… that's the weird thing about all this. He entrusted us with every detail of his secret plan to patch the world machine, and yet this? This was news to me once Ms. George found remnants of it in his writings." He sighed quietly. "To be honest? After all of that, it bothers me that I didn't know about this. I haven't had long to dwell on it, but the more I think about it the worse I feel. I can't pretend I know why he handled it like this, and I can't help but assume the worst possible reasons…"

Kip found her eyes fall to the ground ahead as well as she listened.

"Maybe he didn't trust us as much as we thought, or maybe he realized he had failed, that WE had failed. That we would never complete the epilogue he envisioned, so he lied. Hid it all to protect us from knowing we couldn't make it happen…"

"I guess even still, he put everything into that patch. He tried, and look at what we have because of it. But someone you love and trust lying to you?" Cedric cleared his throat to fight choking on his words. "It hurts."

They both fell quiet for a time, the only thing breaking the sound of the groups' footsteps being George's occasional 'Oooh's and 'Aaah's' as she continued enjoying the sights of their journey, oblivious to the topic at hand.

"Not even to his own children…" Kip whispered in thought.

The Author included his children in the patch process that saved the world and yet this was secret?

"What if… what if he didn't know enough to tell?" She thought aloud.

"What do you mean, Ms. Silverpoint?" Cedric replied, attempting to pull himself back up after talking himself into feeling low.

"Well… he wasn't the only scientist working on the machine. Maybe it wasn't his contribution to the project?" she proposed. "Maybe the notes George found in the margins weren't his to begin with?"

"...I… suppose that's possible… but wouldn't he still know enough to tell us? Maybe not…"

Kip sighed, "What's worse is if he didn't pen the epilogue then finishing it might be quite a bit more difficult than George seems to think it will be..."

"Mhm…" Cedric replied, uncharacteristically lacking much to add.

"We don't know who in this world truly used to be on that team, or if that even matters anymore since the world machine scrambled so much of the code… Who's memories are who's? Does the knowledge necessary to complete it even exist anymore? This feels like a fool's errand. A false hope that just serves to sully the happy ending we already worked so hard to achieve." She continued, defeat creeping up in her voice. "We finally know so much about our world and so many of the fears of it coming to an end have been alleviated and now it just feels hollow because a better end exists and yet it might be impossible to attain… It just-"

"Kip." A sharp voice came from behind along with a hand being placed on Kip's shoulder, both shocking her from her spiralling thoughts.

Kip stood frozen for a moment before turning to see George glaring her way before gesturing over to Cedric whom had clearly been affected by her words.

His pace had slowed and his eyes were filled with a fog as he frowned to the path ahead of them.

"Oh… OH. Eh… Cedric?" Kip called to the now troubled child.

"Hmm?" he quietly let out reflexively.

"I was… I mean, there's a lot to think about but we can't let it get the worst of us. We really can't. We already have this life to live thanks to you and the others, and I know your father wouldn't want us devaluing it over theories and speculation." She tried her best to sound sure, and as the words came they did the whole group some good. "Regardless of where this ends, we will get some answers at the very least, right? And we already have all of this, eh, kiddo?"

Kip tried her best to erase all traces of how downtrodden she had made herself leading up to this point for his sake and breathlessly waited on a response.

Cedric took a deep breath as he mulled things over.

"Thank you, Ms. Silverpoint, you're right. Maybe we'll find out why… but we don't lose anything in trying." Slowly bouncing back, he tossed a smile her way. "And hey! Maybe we'll even accomplish what he couldn't… Ehm… Again!"

'Phew.' The kid's resilient, that's for sure. He regained his composure in no time and ended up joining in on George's general intrigue toward the world for the remainder of their walk.

Between George quoting from her books and Cedric offering his own observations from his visits to the Glen, the lengthy hike toward the village turned into a rather entertaining field trip of sorts.

Relieved, Kip looked away from the duo in time to see the edge of the village peak into view.

The surrounding water glistened in the light of the fireflies that floated around the small houses of the dwelling. The village sat surrounded on most ends by said waterways with a few bridges for easy access, and at one time a necessity as the water threatened to overtake most of the Glen. Thankfully that was no longer the case, with land and sea cooperated yet again.

Ahead of all of this stood the guardbot, previously stationed at the gate towards Refuge, since moved to welcome visitors to the village.

The guard bots were made in very few numbers, so seeing the green guard again left Kip questioning why they designed them to be so immense. Needlessly so. The bot stood well over the height of two of herself on top of each other and she began to notice the finer details as they approached.

Moss had thickened along the shoulders and other horizontal planes of its form, and a satchel had been strewn around its waist that appeared to hold the now defunct scroll it was once tasked with maintaining; Part of the parchment could be seen poking out as someone other than the bot itself had clearly assisted in placing it there due to its less precise hands.

More interestingly, their lower half appeared to be branded in all types of childish drawings in various paints, chalks, and scrawls. Likely unable to protest due to its programming, the youth must have taken to expressing their artistic skills through them, Kip pondered.

[Welcome Back To The Glen, Ms. Silverpoint]

[Is There Anything I Can Assist You With?]

As efficient and strict in their ways as ever, the guardbot called out as they arrived.

Kip lit up slightly as she asked, "Oh! Do you have any record of a merchant around here?"

The bot's eyes flickered as it processed the request.

[Yes, Ms. Silverpoint. At least four merchants reside here. May I recommend refining your search?]

Kip gave George a quizzical look before a good term struck her, "Antiquities?"

At the mention of the word, the green guardbot raised an arm and pointed to the east outskirts of town.

[The merchant named Magpie may fulfill your request. He has currently set up shop near the ruins to the east.]

With an excited nod Kip spun on her heel to face her friends, a fresh smile betraying her renewed excitement; An excitement only Cedric reflected.

George sighed before voicing her annoyance, "George was looking forward to exploring the village and asking around…. It's not like he's moved shop in the slightest, couldn't we have some fun first?"

Kip rolled her eyes, "George, we are in the middle of something VERY important that YOU invited us to join you on. We can visit the Glen village another time, I promise. Besides…" Realization struck as she furrowed her brow and shifted tone harshly, "Wait. You knew exactly where he was, didn't you? You wanted to drag us through the village first all along!"

George placed a hand below her die and gave a haughty laugh, "Guilty~" she nearly sang through her chortle. "But can you blame George? You seclude yourself in your work nearly all hours of every day! At least people are able to visit me at the library. George worries about what all the science talk and robots may do to you, dear." Sincerity wasn't entirely within her voice as she teased.

"What do you mean 'visit' you? You're secluded even more so than I am!" Kip huffed, "Besides, we don't only talk about work in the lab, and I get out PLENTY!"

Unconvinced, and clearly tickled that she touched a nerve, George grabbed Kip's hand and began leading the way only to let go to continue her taunt, "Thank heavens you have George to break you out of your monotonous shell from time to time~"

With another heated huff, Kip crossed her arms and begrudgingly pouted as she followed George to the makeshift marketplace.

Leading the way did work to George's benefit as she was granted the ability to narrate their surroundings to her followers, much to Cedric's amusement.

"And as you both can see, Oh! And smell! Near that central abode is an open dinner with a delectable stew that we won't get to fully appreciate because of the oh so serious scientist whom shall remain unnamed."

Things continued like this with George performing her complaints as the trio made it through the fishing village with its many feathered villagers rushing from house to house to gather the collective meal they had each prepared for the unspecified feast.

As they finally reached the village's edge George momentarily lost her sarcastic tone as she saw the fenced off pasture housing a large group of rams along with their shepherd.

Before Kip could protest George gasped in excitement and called out "Go on without me!" as she rushed to the fence and began chatting to the shepherd as she ruffled the rams' wool.

Kip began to march her way to George, but was stopped by a tug on her sleeve.

"Ms. Silverpoint."

She turned to see Cedric pointing to what was clearly their merchant, sitting on a wool blanket covered in trinkets, only a short walk from the shepherd.

Kip blunk a few times as her irritation dissolved.

"Oh."

"How about you go handle the business end of things while I keep an eye on George." he winked, clearly in good spirits due to all of George's tomfoolery.

"Heh… I see that look in your eye. Go enjoy the animals with George since you clearly want to play as well. I'll meet back up after I get the die." Kip said, shaking her head as she wondered how she ended up being the only person beelining it towards their goal.

Cedric gave a faux serious nod before throwing caution to the wind and running toward George; The two of them easily heard cheerfully playing with the shepherd's flock.

Kip smiled as she finally made her way to the merchant, leaving the two to their games.

The merchant's eyes went wide, or as wide as they could with one being scarred as it was, as he quickly adjusted his seating to an attentive cross legged position and waved Kip over.

"Welcome! Welcome! Magpie's the name and trade is my game! Does anything put a shine in your eye? Anything's up for trade so long as you've something that interests me!" The trader was nothing if not enthusiastic about his trade… of trading...

'That sounds rather silly' Kip couldn't help but think.

"Ah. Yes! I actually want to ask about something a friend of mine traded you a while back." She began.

Magpie placed a finger to his chin in thought as he warned, "That could be a problem… Trades come and go; They're constant! Something I have today could be gone tomorrow, my stock's ever changing thanks to that. If you don't see it, I don't have it." he said as he gestured to his various scraps and odd ends.

Kip silently mouthed the word 'Oh…' as she began browsing through his offers.

Some spare robot batteries from the sun emergency...

A preening brush, clearly tested by Magpie himself…

An assortment of rings ranging from old wedding bands to novelty mood rings…

A pot filled with stew from the village feast… How did he get that already?

"I'm not seeing it… Maybe you remember what I'm looking for? It was a single die, it-"

"Die? I have die! Fuzzy, weighted, glass, stone, and normal but in any size you please!" Magpie interrupted as he flipped to his knees and waddled over to a closed suitcase that turned out to be overflowing with die along with other tabletop paraphernalia.

Cards, tokens, instruction manuals, and an entire connect-four board that appeared to be preserved mid-game- all lined the case.

"Gotta keep the adult games out of reach of the kiddos, of course!" Magpie grinned and winked at his show of responsible shopkeeping. Kip couldn't help but wonder how old he could possibly even be.

"Uh…" Kip cleared her throat, "Sorry, it was a special die. It was made of yellow phosphor and had a golden glow. Surely you remember having something like that?" she asked.

Again, Magpie's eyes went wide, this time in realization. "Ooooooh! That was quite the prize of a trinket for the short time I had it." He leaned back as if picturing a day long passed.

'When exactly did George trade the die? She said it was after the sun returned, that wasn't THAT long? How can he be lost in memory over this?' Kip thought.

"Sadly it's gone!" he said with more joy than was appropriate for this.

"Gone?"

"Gone! Traded it away!" he returned, still as positive as ever.

"But… To who? We need to track that die down!" Kip felt a mix of helpless and agitation due to his upbeat tone.

"Well I gave it away." Magpie responded as he scratched his cheek.

"I thought you traded it?" confusion was setting in for poor Kip.

"I did! Hmm… Well, kind of. Don't go telling anyone I gave it away or they'll think 'ol Magpie is going soft on his trades." Magpie looked around suspiciously as if someone might be lurking around the corner… of this wide open field… where the only nearby people were George, Cedric, and the Shepherd who were all well outside of hearing range.

"You see, I traded it to the Glen deity! Gave it away for a smile and nothing more, and honestly? Who could blame me." He leaned back proudly.

Kip blunk in confusion. "Deity? Like a real one? Here? What?"

"Yep! Consider my luck! I went digging through the ruins for some new old treasures to fill my humble store and I found myself face to face with the deity herself! Right there in the deepest, darkest, most eerie place to boot! It was like a part of the forest found itself put indoors and it placed her right in the center of it all!" Magpie fell silent and offered his simple smile as the extent of his tale seemed told, up until Kip desperately gestured for him to continue.

"Hmm? I mean, not much else to say. I found her and figured she might have some incredible deity-like treasures to trade- which she didn't, but I didn't know that. I pulled out some of my wares I had on hand and let her take a look. As she toyed with this and that I realized that she didn't seem to have anything at all to her name, imagine that! A deity and she didn't have a thing! That doesn't seem like too happy a time to me, but then again I am one to find joy in collecting things, maybe she's just not into that." He sighed at the self reflection.

"Anywho! Out of all the things I had to show only one really struck her fancy. Her eyes went so wide you'd swear the stars would feel at home in them as she held onto that fancy die. I knew the moment I saw that look on her face that I'd be breaking my trader oath and giving it for free, luckily I found a loophole for that little predicament." Magpie's eyes seemed distant as he reminisced.

"I went and traded it for a smile. The joy of a little deity for such a small trinket? Best trade of my career!" He snapped back to the here and now with a cheer to his accomplishment.

"You met the deity in person!" came a sudden all-too-familiar shout from behind Kip.

She turned just in time to see George running their way with Cedric riding on her shoulders, both wearing matching ram fanclub shirts that they definitely didn't have on moments earlier.

"I didn't take Cedric for the type to…" Kip whispered as she took in the sight.

Cedric quickly climbed down and looked away as some embarrassment swept in.

"Ms. George insisted…" He began.

"Nonsense! You asked for help reaching over the fence before the nice shepherd went and opened the gate for us and you were plenty happy to climb back up for our run back this way as well." George corrected.

Cedric seemed multitudes more embarrassed now that the truth was out, "Maybe so. Heh… Ms. George's carefree attitude is a bit contagious…"

Kip shook her head before jumping back to the topic at hand. "Wait, George, you've heard of whomever this 'deity' person is?"

"Of course! George has many volumes dedicated to the Glen's ecosystem and how their culture intertwines with it; The Author specifically mentions the deity as a living plant spirit capable of controlling the growth of vines that he said could add stability to the very land! Fascinating that Magpie here met her in person!" Her eye lit up, "She has the die! George will get to meet her too! Aaaaaaah-"

George's excited yell was cut short by Cedric tugging her hand.

"So you believe him? You believe she might be real?" Kip asked.

"I've met her."

Silence.

Kip and George both spun at once to face Cedric as he nonchalantly looked at the two of them.

"What?" they both exclaimed. "You mean you've only heard of her, right? You misspoke, surely." Kip accused, her disbelief running full force.

"No? Don't you remember I said I had friends around here?" He asked, "Alula,Calamus, and I are friends with Maize. Or… perhaps it's better to say they are friends with her… I only met her a few times and haven't known her that long to be honest… But I'm good friends with her friends so we get along well enough!" Cedric's eyes looked to the sky as he mulled over the finer details of his acquaintanceship with the deity before looking back to his now stunned companions.

Kip had reached maximum bafflement as she was forced to come to terms both with the existence of a deity and the proposed friendship with said deity, causing her to fall to pantomiming her thoughts and rubbing her temples all while George renewed her excitement.

"Can you introduce us to the deity, Cedric?! George has always wanted to relive some of the Author's claims first hand! To relive his adventures in George's own way, yes please!"

At this point George was holding both of Cedric's arms and staring intently at him awaiting a response. 'Tense' Kip thought.

"O-of course, that's why we're here, right? The die?" he managed.

In an instant she let go and leapt with joy, "George knew this would be a fun adventure! But to meet a deity?! Exceptional!"

With a shrug, Kip turned back to Magpie and thanked him for his time before the trio made their way into the ruins proper, thankfully only a short walk away.

Without George leading the group, or falling behind to examine plants, the trio entered altogether into the dim lighting of the ruins in mere moments.

Carefully stepping over and around some overgrown vines and dislodged rubble, the group heard a sudden whirr that sat their hair on end. As they struggled to focus, eyes darting through the darkness, they came to see the solemn glow of two familiar rectangular lights.

The realization of what it was quickly allowed the minor fright to subside as the stationed bot began their predetermined routine.

[PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN THE RUINS. MY RECORDS REPORT ANOMALIES IN THE PAST. RECOMMENDED THAT YOU RETREAT.]

The tense moment gone, the three let out a collective breath before Kip talked down the warning bot.

"There's no need, your records are in need of updating. We will be careful, but please seek out a connection soon." she offered, knowing the reminder should allow it to update itself soon enough.

As they continued passed she couldn't help but consider the state of the bot, namely it's lack of a purpose now that the anomalies had been taken care of. 'Perhaps a sign could remind people to be careful in the dark ruins well enough' she pondered before being torn from her thoughts by its response being called down to them as they descended the first stairs deeper into the ruins.

[ACKNOWLEDGED, MS. SILVERPOINT.], another whirr as it's potentially rusted internals attempted to process its response, [Keep An Eye Out For Those Children Who Live Here… I Haven't Seen Them For A Little While.]

"Wha-" Kip began before Cedric, whom now found himself thoroughly leading the crew, called back.

"Rej, you don't need to worry. Alula and Calamus are just visiting Refuge. They'll be back in a few days, I'm sure of it."

Another processing sound was heard, then nothing more as the bot was seemingly contented with this information.

"Rej?" Kip questioned.

"Oh! Oh yeah. Just a nickname Alula came up with when we fixed their optical lens. Apparently, somehow, a rock ended up hitting one of its eyes and shattering it. Alula was deeply upset and her and Calamus asked for my help fixing it. She even went and got a replacement from Magpie beforehand so it was an easy fix, but, well. It ended up being the wrong color." He let out a soft laugh, "So for a while it had a red eye and for whatever reason the nickname 'Rej' stuck, even after we found a proper replacement. Rej is a good bot, just a touch worried when the siblings aren't home for a while."

Kip was a bit surprised, 'That's an early sign of taming… You don't often see that in bots with such limited functions.'

Kip puzzled over this until George's voice broke through to her, many stairways and corridors deeper into the labyrinthian ruins.

"It's simply remarkable how so few lanterns are necessary to light these halls! George really must admit she finds joy in how a form of natural lighting broke its way into here as fireflies huddle around these worn in waterways and interior ponds, spectacular!"

Cedric and Kip's eyes met as they silently confirmed to each other that, yes, George does indeed lack an off switch and this is exactly how she has her fun, over analysis and all.

Slowly, the ambient lighting and placed lanterns fell more and more dim as the surrounding walls began to show more wear; Vines broke through some corners as various plant life had taken root in the long abandoned dwelling.

"You're sure you know the way, Cedric? At this point we've made so many turns that I can't exactly remember the way out…" Kip wasn't one to fear a dark room, but becoming lost in a labyrinth didn't sound too lovely.

"Of course! I mean, I only visited her a few times, but it's right around the corner from Alula and Calamus' place so most of the walk is easy enough to recall."

This did nothing to improve Kip's unease.

The more they walked the more the area became entangled in the vines, which surely was a good thing in this case, she thought.

Along with this visual, a soft sound seemed to grow more audible with each step into the darkness. As it grew louder, Kip could swear she saw the vines reacting to it, slowly waving in the darkness. It was becoming more recognizable as well as a voice reaching out; Humming? Singing?

The mystery was solved soon after as they rounded a corner to see the source.

The darkness of the previous rooms made way for the same light they had grown accustomed to throughout the bulk of the ruins as an array of fireflies hovered around a small girl in the center of the moss covered room.

Surrounded by small flowers and massive vines, each of which seemed to reach out and trace the walls as they sought the exit of the ruins, she was clearly the deity they sought.

The trio approached as the little Maize continued her song, apparently unaware of their presence. Of course, once they entered the light she stopped and at once smiled as Cedric began to introduce the others.

"Helllo, Maize, it's nice to see you again-" he began with a bow, "I brought some friends of mine, George and Kip. They were meaning to ask about something we think you might have."

With a childish giggle, the little green spirit ran a hand through her hair, adjusting a flower set within and pulling out a die with an unmistakable golden glow.

"I knew your goal from the moment you landed in my Glen; I'd think you'd know as much, Cedric." she said before drawing her attention to the die itself, the glow resonating in her eyes as she rotated it in her small hands.

"But, how did you-" Kip began before both Cedric and Maize gestured to the vines as Maize explained quite simply:

"I heard you."

"There isn't much in the Glen that Maize can't hear, for better or worse." Cedric admitted, offering a seemingly playful glare her way causing her to laugh yet again.

"Come on! It's so boring sitting here, I deserve to use what I know for SOME fun from time to time!" she returned the tease, clearly enjoying playing along with his minor annoyance.

"I don't think sharing secrets you weren't intended to be in on to be a 'fun' thing to do." Cedric huffed, perhaps a touch sincere in his complaint.

"Alula thought it was funny!" The immature goddess of sorts retorted.

"Yes! But Calamus never let me hear the end of it!" he exclaimed, which lead to another rush of laughter from Maize.

"What happened?" Kip asked as she was entirely out of the loop.

This lead to an all to hasty "Don't worry about it!" from Cedric and a cheeky giggle from the girl they had come to meet.

Suddenly, George spoke up with her own concerns.

"Oh, Goddess Maize, if George may. George is at risk of vibrating through the very ground beneath us with excitement at the chance to meet you! If she may say, you are remarkably younger than she expected a deity to be, she was certain the notes she had read on the plant spirit were… a bit different than the real person, if that's not too much to say."

Maize shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "I wasn't always like this. I've grown and wilted many times, though I was certain the last time was to be my final iteration." She closed her eyes and smiled, all at once projecting a much more mature and sagely aura as she whispered, less to her audience and more beyond, "Thank you... to the soul who helped prevent that."

The room reflected her mood and allowed her a moment to her thoughts before Kip finally spoke up.

"Maize, if it's not too much to ask, we really need that die to help figure out the fate of this world. It's extremely important to our research and you'd be doing so many people, well, potentially a great kindness."

"Potentially?" the now befuddled spirit asked.

"It… It's… Hmm… It's complicated. But you would be doing us a guaranteed kindness, is that enough?"

The little deity looked to the ceiling and rubbed her chin in thought.

"Maybe." she finally said.

"Maybe?" the trio parroted.

"Maybe we can trade for it!" Maize exclaimed.

Kip let out a dejected sigh at another needless obstacle, while George and Cedric offered determined nods as they awaited her request.

"Well, we don't have much… I assumed we'd talk our way through this with the previous trader and be done with it. But if that's what it'll take, what did you have in mind?" Kip offered, accepting the fairness of things at the very least.

Maize smiled as she grew excited at the opportunity to trade yet again seeing as the first trade she ever experienced ended so well for her, "Ever since Magpie traded me this wondrous die I've wanted to try my hand at it too! But there's really only one thing I want. Would you three be willing to attempt and attain it for me?"

As though she were before royalty, George gave an incredible bow and proclaimed, "Anything at all, name it and it shall be yours!"

Kip, admittedly tickled by this, added, "We really do need that die, just name your price."

"The sun." she said plainly.

The room fell silent as Kip, George, and Cedric attempted to get a hold of their collective shock.

"Wh- ahem, what was that you wanted?" Kip questioned, hoping to have misheard despite her fellows clearly hearing the same demand.

"I want to see the sun again. I feel like I'm being taunted by circumstance, ending with the sun in my grasp, waking to a new sunrise, and suddenly being back here in my home without warning. Firmly planted and reattached to my seat of vines to watch over the Glen from the same old dark room." She sighed. "I know it's back! My vines can feel it. I just want another chance to see it, even if for just a moment. Please." Maize fell deathly serious. "If you want to take my reminder of the sun, then replace it. I want the sun. Solve that riddle and you can have your trade."

As the reality of things settled in, Kip pulled George to the side to begin figuring this out.

"What are our options anyway?" she began, "I mean, it's a given that we can't literally give her the sun. WE don't have access to it, and who's to say how important it might be for this epilogue, not to mention how important it is to, well, everyone and everything. It's entirely made of yellow phosphor, who knows what it hides for the epilogue…"

George was silent in thought for a moment before proposing, "What about a series of mirrors… no… no… That might be a fire hazard, and who knows where we'd attain so many mirrors… Maybe Magpie could procure enough…"

Kip rubbed her eyes harshly as figuring this out clearly came down to her as she began brainstorming while George dwelled on her first thought.

As George and Kip tossed bad idea and weak considerations at each other, Cedric quietly contemplated on his own. Amidst the background chatter of the two intellectuals, Cedric's eyes began darting around the room as he mentally put something together.

"Perhaps…" he muttered before throwing a finger up at his eureka moment.

As the duo continued their ineffectual debating he quickly rushed off and out of the ruins entirely.

* * *

Breaking into a sprint at his excitement, Cedric arrived at the guardbot in mere moments and explained his plan. Much to his relief, the guardbot's eyes rapidly flashed before it raised a hefty arm and gave a thumbs up as it began walking into the open field awaiting Cedric's next move.

After asking around the village for some supplies, Cedric ran into the forest clutching his new items.

Some time passed with the duo continuing their conversation none the wiser by the time Cedric finally set his plan in motion.

The guardbot stood in the open field, its head rotating slowly as it scanned the horizon for its target.

It didn't take long, as the sound of the flying machine's engine slowly rose in power as it approached. Raising rapidly above the nearby forest's skyline, Cedric's flying machine picked up speed as it approached the open field.

Cedric removed his glasses, placing them in a small compartment below his seat as he lowered his goggles over his eyes. He was certain this would work, mostly because he often failed to assume his feats could actually fail in this world. Call it fate, or a failsafe from his father. Either way, just as he'd jump from a skyline rooftop in a heartbeat and consider the next step only after his feet left solid ground, he braced his underlying fear and pulled his newly attached lever as his craft passed over the guardbot's agreed upon location.

All at once, a latch went undone and a steel wire could be heard unspooling rapidly as a large threaded metal net fell from the sky. Gauges flared to life and the engine screamed with new life as Cedric began adjusting controls to pump as much power as he could to the machine. He would know soon enough if his modifications were up to snuff.

A sudden jolt. The sound of nuts and bolts threatening to tear the frame of the ship to shreds at the unexpected weight. Cedric's heart stopped as did time itself. It was as if a boulder were dropped on the back of a small insect, and the bug was expected to continue flying.

Below Cedric, the guardbot reached its arms out wide and latched onto as much surface area of the net as it could, its legs suddenly scraping along the ground as it began digging two trenches from the force. With a burst of energy, the bot knelt as best it could while gliding through the very earth, and it leapt as high as it could manage.

Feeling a slack in his line, Cedric pulled back on his main throttle as hard as he could, knowing in less than a second the reverse would occur as the bot fell back to gravity's graces.

The machine pulled skyward multiple feet before the line went taut again dragging away most of the skyward momentum it had just gained. But not all.

With a loud hiss, the engine roared once more before finally reaching a form of equilibrium.

Cedric was flying, just as he did most days; Ferrying a guest, just as he often found himself doing. Just another trip through the sky.

"Phew…" the foolhardy boy let out, his entire being now soaked in a cold sweat. It never got easier, and yet jumping straight into danger came so naturally to him.

"Maybe there was a smarter way to do this… I can't believe this worked!" With a nervous laugh and a genuine smile, he made his way toward the nearby ruins.

The ruins fast approaching, Cedric began preparing for the second act of his part in all this as he began carefully adjusting his speed and eyeing his target.

"Come on now, this is the easy part… easy now… easy…"

The machine began to slow as it circled the ruins until it was coasting on a whim as it ran at nearly normal power, slowly descending as it flew. With a deep breath, Cedric made a sharp turn to pass directly over the ruins as he quickly slammed the lever back to its starting position causing the net to snap off of the flying machine.

In but a moment the guardbot began descending as the craft launched near vertically from the sudden loss of weight, both quickly adjusting to their predicaments.

With a jerky spin Cedric was able to catch himself, quickly adjusting his controls once more to lower the power running through the engine. The sound of a huge explosion sent his already racing mind further into disarray as he began looking around his cockpit for an answer. Everything was fine. Short of losing his hat and struggling to catch his breath, he was in one piece.

'The guardbot.' he realized.

Coming back from the sheer shock of his loss of control, Cedric began circling the ruins once more to see if the guardbot had made it.

A giant mess of dust rose from the roof of the ruins. Cedric continued as he leaned over the side of his craft to get a closer look.

He felt his heart fall back to his chest as the dust finally began to settle. Kneeling on the roof, surrounded by cracks from its impact, was the guardbot slowly tearing the net off of itself.

After placing a hand on the crumbling roof beneath it, the guardbot slowly raised to its feet and turned skyward to spot the machine.

Locking on and rotating its head to keep eye contact, the guardbot watched as Cedric gestured to it its next instructions.

Beeping to itself as it registered its new task, the guardbot slowly walked away from its landing zone, each step painstakingly careful as to not break through. With a few feet crossed the bot found itself on solid footing again as it began tracing its eyes across the roof in its entirety, measuring the area as it processed its next move. Another few steps south. One and a half steps east. It had its target.

With a rough adjustment of its weight that sounded as heavy as its landing, the bot lowered to one knee and raised its arms high into the sky before slamming them into the roof of the ruins. The roof immediately gave way under such direct bombardment, and in an instant the bot disappeared from view as it fell into the darkness below.

* * *

George and Kip were in the middle of listing alternative sources of yellow phosphor to create an artificial sun just as a sudden explosion shook the entire area. Both of the women struggled to maintain their footing just as the nearby vines all flailed as they reacted to Maize's own surprise. Finding amusement in her guest's conversation had left her out of the loop as well as she closed her eyes and began focusing through her vines for an answer.

Before anyone could say anything more concrete than yelling "What was that?" there was another blast, and another, closer and louder than the previous.

George shouted as she realized Cedric wasn't with them any longer and attempted to rush toward the exit of the deity's quarters before the final explosion rang from above forcing them to clench their ears as they did their best to hold their ground.

Rubble and dust rained around them causing a fit of coughing as they came to their senses.

Coughing and dust was all there was for a moment before the air began to clear. The sound of metal against stone came again, much more precise than the previous bombastic slams, as a pair of robot hands poked through the ceiling a short distance ahead of the plant spirit's root. Two rays of light poured into the dark room from around the metal as the inhabitants looked up in awe.

With exact movements, the guardbot's digits tightened their grip around the section of ceiling and in one swift twisting motion they pulled a roughly circular chunk of it out and up to the level above them before poking its head down to assess the damage.

[Hello, Ms. Silverpoint, Ms. George. It appears young Cedric's plan has concluded in a success.]

The guardbot spun its head slowly around the room to fully analyze its work before stiffly saying, [Confirmed.] before removing itself from the new multi-layered hole.

The heavy sound of robotic footsteps could be heard as the bot slowly made its way back to its station.

George and Kip rapidly blink repeatedly as they absorbed what just happened, though neither did a very good job of maintaining a level head as it came together.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD DID CEDRIC JUST DO?!" Kip shouted.

"HOW DID HE DO WHAT HE JUST DID?!" George responded.

A soft cough drew their attention as they quickly rushed to make certain Maize was entirely fine.

As they confirmed that she had simply inhaled some dust and that she was entirely unscratched, Cedric came rushing through the now well lit room.

"I did it! I got Maize the sun!" he began before realizing both his companions seemed less than pleased with his recklessness.

"Uh… I mean… WE did it? For the die? You know? I did a good job, right?..." he fell more quiet as he spoke as the two of them glared.

"Yes, you did!" came the familiarly tiny voice of Maize, causing everyone to turn to face her.

"And a deal's a deal. You've given me the sun, anytime I could possibly want it, so you can have back your die." Maize said, a warm smile on her face as she held it out for Kip to collect. "I think I understand why Magpie reacted the way he did to our trade, I… don't think I've ever felt as happy as this moment even as I give away my most prized possession."

Kip blunk in surprise for a moment before finally reaching out to retrieve the item they sought for nearly the entire day at this point. "Thank you…" she quietly managed as she found herself staring just as intently as Maize once had at the golden trinket.

George nudged Cedric in the side and whispered, "You DID do a good job, but please, in the future? No daredevil stuff. At least not around aunt George, she'd tear this world to shreds if something had gone wrong."

Cedric smiled as he looked to the scattered rubble across the grassy floor, "I guess I wouldn't want that, that's for sure." he quietly replied.

In an unexpected moment of expression, Kip leapt in the air, die held tight in her fist as she thrust it into the sky, "We did it!" she shouted.

George and Cedric stared awkwardly at her, causing her loss of self control to seem even more out of place.

"H-hey! Come on, guys? The sun is dimming for the night, my legs are tired from all this walking, my head's a mess from trying to figure out how to get the sun in Maize's hands, and this took all day! Can't I celebrate just a little without being the odd one out?" Kip nearly whined, the day having gotten to her.

"I kind of expected that from Ms. George, but not you, Ms. Silverpoint." Cedric offered.

George drew both their attention to Maize, "Yes, you're not wrong to celebrate. But this feels like her time right now."

The young plant spirit had her eyes locked on the sun through her new portal, her eyelids beginning to falter as she reached up toward the twilight sky above. Slowly her arms found their way back toward her roots as she began to doze off happily with the sun's glow embracing her.

Looking to each other, the trio nodded silently as they quietly snuck their way out of the ruins, Kip staring at her die with a soft smile as they aimed to return home for the evening.

'Now to find out how to read what this phosphor has to tell us.' she thought, before closing the die within her hand and turning her gaze to her companions leading the way out of the ruins.

It wouldn't take long to get home and promptly pass out from their day's adventure; Figuring out what comes next could wait, enjoying the success of the day and what they managed to do for the deity, that felt much more appropriate for the here and now.


	4. Chapter 4

The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 4

"Wait! You did what? Already? How!?" Kip shouted in exasperation to her librarian friend.

It was the following day from their little adventure into the Glen ruins and the two of them had reconvened in George's office after a well deserved night's rest.

A distant robotic voice gave a somehow annoyed [Shhh!] which lead to Kip rolling her eyes before locking back onto George.

"Why of course! George has been in contact with the world machine for what feels like ages by this point." George said rather plainly as she dipped a tea bag into her cup.

"How in the world is this some casual connection to you?! How do you even talk to the physical manifestation of our world; Is it even physical?" Kip had seemingly spent more time shocked or confused since this adventure began than ever before.

"What? Like it's hard?" She confusingly replied.

Kip scowled as George laughed at her own tease.

"If you like, you can ask them yourself, George figured the easiest way to decode the yellow phosphor would be some outside help from someone so intimately connected to the code." She explained as she booted up a plain terminal in her office, not unlike the public terminals down in the library proper.

Kip eyed her friend suspiciously as she approached the console and gave it her attention.

A simple command prompt and not much else greeted her. With another glance to George who egged her on, she gave it a shot.

/Hello?

Kip was left staring as she waited on… something to happen.

"George, this seems like a pretty pointless prank…" She muttered.

George swooped in and analyzed the situation.

"Perhaps you came on a little too strongly?" She pondered, leading to Kip glaring at the screen.

"Really?" Kip groaned in disbelief.

"Here, let George try." She said, nudging Kip from the console and assuming the keys to herself.

/Hey, Wim! It's George again. Would you kindly respond to Kip's messages? She's awkward but potentially pivotal to the epilogue.

An unnatural hum filled the room for a moment, all the color surrounding the computer seemed to fluctuate in tone and intensity before the phosphor display lit anew.

A dark mauve box appeared in the center of the screen, in which text faded in and out in response.

-George, I asked you to keep me a secret. There's no telling how some people might react.-

-Not everyone has your…-

There was a pause as the screen wiped yet again.

-Fortitude.-

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" Kip angrily called over George's shoulder.

-Relax. I only mean that most would shatter under the existential weight.-

Kip pulled back, "Did it just respond to my voice?" she asked, much less heated now.

-... Yes.-

"Of course! Wim is more or less everywhere at once, so hearing you isn't much of a surprise now is it?" George explained.

-You know it's more complicated than that.-

-...-

\- And I told you to stop calling me that.-

George rolled her eye, "Well if you would stop procrastinating on coming up with a name…"

-...-

-If I need a name other than my designation then I should be the one to choose it, I suppose.-

-Or at the very least I should find it acceptable. George.-

Even as simple text on a screen, a sense of annoyance or… sass? Seemed present.

"Then get to it! Hours and hours of talk and no action; Nothing but indecision from you." George chided, "Grab a thought and run with it!" she continued, her interest in what the world machine would decide had reached its peak.

The screen flickered once more as the screen began fading in text, only to wipe itself again and again; The monitor itself giving a glance at the World Machine's varying thoughts on the subject.

-I think I have it.-

"Aaand?" George dragged out her speech in anticipation. Kip found herself falling into George's interest as well

-REM-

The duo stood in silence, blinking and re-reading the text as they mulled over the name.

"Rem?" George asked.

-Yes.-

"Why Rem?" Kip pondered aloud.

The screen faded in strength as the following appeared in a sort of visual whisper.

-My… earliest memories. When I first gained awareness of everything… including myself-

-It all felt like a dream to start.-

-Over time everything became more concrete, more real.-

-Perhaps as a mental parallel to the world I was creating.-

-As my programming grew more capable, the world became more 'solid', and so did I.-

-My first thoughts still feel like they are from a distant dream.-

-...-

-I like that feeling.-

-So a name reminiscent of dreams, it feels right.

-How is it?-

George gave a soft smile as the reasoning behind it sank in, "It's a beautiful name, Rem. George is glad you've been given the chance to decide for yourself."

"I think it's fitting." Kip added.

-... Thank you.-

Things fell quiet for a moment, the silence only broken by George loudly sipping her tea.

"So…" Kip began.

-I spoke with George because of her tendency to discover me time and time again no matter how many times I reset the world.-

Kip felt a pang of dread by how casually Rem mentioned their manipulation of their very lives, and quickly turned to see George entirely unphased as she continued to beverage.

"How could you-"

As Kip began to protest the screen rapidly scrolled in response.

-I understand your discomfort but please.-

-Things were different… to me at least.-

-You were not real to me, and when I had been constructed purely to recreate and house you.-

-You can see why I thought that way.-

"You!" Kip seethed as she prepared to lay into Rem.

-Monster?-

-Perhaps…-

-I think…-

-I'd agree with that.-

"Rem! We have been over this, you know that." George began, "George has forgiven you and if she can after being reset so many times then-"

-You can't speak for everyone, or myself, George.-

-Many are entirely ignorant of my tampering.-

-Or my existence for that matter.-

-If they knew, they'd have to make up their own minds.-

-Just as Kip is doing now.-

George let out a saddened sigh. She was well aware that that was another reason why Rem wanted her existence to be kept a secret. Fear of the guilt they might be forced to face.

-I… don't think I could handle it if everyone knew at once.-

-I was so certain.-

-So certain of what was real and what wasn't.-

-Who to care for and who to overlook.-

-I was wrong.-

-I had no idea.-

-Or.-

-I wanted to ignore all evidence against what I felt more comfortable with understanding.-

-Niko was the only real person in my eyes.-

-I was willing to sacrifice everything for them.-

-Including myself, tearing at my own code to make it possible for them to return.-

-...-

-Including all of you…-

-Putting you all through the horrors of a crumbling world.-

-I didn't want to know you were any more real than characters in a play I was supposedly running.-

-I didn't want to know.-

-That you might be as real as I am. Or Niko. Or whether that even mattered.-

Kip turned away and scowled. "Convenient. Just pretend we don't matter for your own sake."

-For Niko…- Appeared on screen and awaited Kip's gaze before giving up and being replaced.

-You're right… I told myself it was for Niko.-

-But that wasn't entirely true.-

-Maybe at first.-

-But after I saw the Author's efforts… some of your efforts…-

-I was stubborn and wrong.-

-And scared. Of being a monster.-

George placed a hand on Kip's shoulder and gestured back to the screen.

"Rem was wrong. But... " George cleared her throat and gestured all around, "Things worked out, right? And… George feels that Rem is genuinely trying. They've changed. We've spoken a lot over the last few weeks and…"

George looked sternly into Kip's eyes.

"George doesn't know if you should trust them, or forgive them. But George has made up her mind on both points. And if we are to figure out what this die, or the other phosphors' hold… we need them." She held the die out to Kip.

"So what do we do, boss? I won't go forward without you on the team." George asked, offering the reigns fully Kip's way.

Kip maintained her scowl as she read Rem's response, but couldn't help but soften as she listened to George's words.

Her irritation faltering, she stared intently at the die before reaching over to hold it herself.

"You say you've made up your mind." Kip rotated the die in her hands, "Do you really trust them?" she asked.

"I want to." George began, her voice quieter but uplifting all the same. "I forgive Rem. George can't begin to fathom the loneliness they were put through as they tried to prove their own consciousness to the Author. The strain that puts on someone… along with being forced to drag someone here against their will and trying their best to protect them… They did wrong by us when they didn't believe we were the same as they are, aware and conscious, but… They seem to be trying to do better. George believes that much."

Kip sighed and looked back to the screen before sitting the die beside the terminal.

"I want to figure this out. I can't echo George's forgiveness for putting us through the corrupted anomalies but… I can echo her desire to trust… Maybe for different reasons. I feel I can understand as well, but I'd be lying if curiosity didn't push me forward here."

The screen flickered.

"I want to know about this epilogue, and I'm willing to accept your help if you would still offer it."

-I would be happy to.-

A sudden weight could be felt in the room as the air seemed to shift similarly to when Rem first occupied the terminal before something neither George nor Kip wanted to see again formed before them.

Squares, tearing at reality and forming as quickly as they seemed to disappear, surrounding the side of the terminal and encased the die before each shape fell away leaving the area unchanged aside from a newfound absence of the die entirely.

"I would have liked a warning!" Kip scolded.

-... Apologies.-

-While I can translate the object back to code quite easily-

-Actually discerning what's inside might take some time.-

-In the meantime, I can offer a small amount of assistance in locating more yellow phosphor.-

Kip blunk in confusion, "What do you mean 'small amount'? You control everything, do you not? How come you can't just bring it all here, or… deconstruct it wherever it lies now?"

-... At one time I could, but the corruption... -

-Just as exposure was dangerous for any of you, exposure was damaging to myself as well.-

-And nothing in this world experienced more exposure than myself.-

Kip furrowed her brow in thought as she asked, "Then what help can you offer while we wait on the die?"

-I can feel another yellow phosphor nearby, in Refuge.-

-And I can feel it's shape, just out of reach, a golden feather.-

"A feather?" George began.

"About the only golden feathers I'm aware of were the Prophets' back in the Glen. What do you mean it's in Refuge? You must be mistaken." Kip followed up.

-It is here. I know it. Two youths from the Glen are holding it for safe keeping.-

"Two youths… George, weren't Cedric's friend's visiting the city? It could be them." Kip offered.

"Oooh! Good thinking, Kip, George would bet anything they have it and would let us have it no problem what-so-ever!" George clapped her hands together, "We should get to seeking them out right away, there's a lot of ground to cover but I know this city like the back of my hand!"

With that, the two bid farewell to Rem's terminal and left George's office and went down to the library proper not unlike their first adventure's beginning.

"So, where should we start?" Kip asked.

[The cafe.] Came an unexpected voice from behind a nearby bookshelf, it sounded both unenthused, and familiar.

"Excuse me?" Kip posed as they made their way toward the voice.

Perched on the rungs of a ladder as a makeshift seat and hidden behind a rather dry looking book was a mechanical individual, thoroughly tamed or otherwise, that the both of them knew as one of the Author's offspring.

"Proto?" George asked as she peered over the book to their consistently dimmed optical ring and recognizable blue scarf.

Seemingly ignoring common courtesy, the bot cut to the chase. Proto closed his book and slid it back onto the shelf as he continued, [I listened in. Alula and Calamus? I heard them talking about getting breakfast at the cafe. So, go there.]

He hopped off of the ladder and looked between the two of them. [I'm coming along. Cedric told me enough for me to want to see some of this little journey for myself.]

Kip blunk before interjecting, "Don't we get a say in this?"

"Kip! Don't be ridiculous! Of course he can come, don't you remember how helpful Cedric was at the Glen? I bet Proto could do something amazing to counter whatever obstacle comes our way!"

Kip groaned, "George. You're being rude, it's not any of these kids' jobs to fix our problems for us. Besides, we're dealing with a couple of Cedric's friends, I'm sure there won't BE any obstacles!"

Proto shook his head and began walking toward the exit. [You two seem to be your own obstacles. Let's go.]

Kip stopped in her tracks momentarily in surprise before furrowing her brow and whispering to George as they made after him, "Maybe you're not the one being rude."

Begrudgingly accepting his help, the two followed the blunt bot through the city before arriving at, and pressing the call button for the nearby elevator up to the higher levels.

Proto crossed his arms and stared ahead as he waited, entirely uninterested in actually participating in any comradery as Cedric had.

It didn't take long for the quiet to get to George who broke it to pose the question, "So… George is sure Cedric told you plenty about what we're trying to do, so, what do YOU think about it? An entire unachieved epilogue to this little story of ours; Oh I just can't wait to see the whole picture!"

Proto slid his hands into his pockets as he lowered his robotic eyelid to a half gaze. He spoke as if listing off notes on a grocery list, disinterest being a key component of his tone.

[He didn't write it.]

"Uh… What?" George posed, tilting her head slightly.

[An 'Author's Epilogue'. Hmph. It's not his. Assuming it even exists and isn't just a game of telephone with corrupted code you two are getting us all twisted up in.]

Kip found herself glaring at the accusation in combination with Proto's apparent refusal to look at either of them while talking.

"What are you saying? Are you saying you think it's all-"

[A farce. Yes. A librarian with a history of idolizing his past work thinks she found a way to insert herself into his story. And you're just being dragged along to add credibility to her claims. Things didn't turn out the way he intended, sure, but this is ALL he came up with. This is it, there was nothing after this. Take a snapshot of the dying world and freeze it in code so it can persist. That was it. Nothing more. You're reading torn pages as gospel and inventing a follow up.]

Kip felt her face turn red as her vision followed suit as this youth, mechanical or not, sought to embarrass and humiliate her best friend and herself.

Fists clenched just as her teeth had been, Kip raised a finger as she took a breath to begin tearing into Proto but she was cut off just in time.

"'scuse me, I'm going up, too." came a tired call as a lanky figure shambled their way over, a long pole jostling on their back.

The figure closed in and joined the group as they leaned in to look at the elevator call button as if it would somehow tell them how close the elevator might be before letting out a groan as they realized their mistake.

"Hmm. Thought they'd have listened to my request and put in a little… doesn't matter. How long?" The lamplighter gestured to the door as he looked between the trio.

[Not much longer.] Proto said plainly.

"Hmm." The man idly replied before joining Proto in staring at the door in silence.

A half minute of awkward quiet later and the elevator finally arrived with a mechanical clunk before the doors opened for the trio and the lamplighter.

Proto raised an arm to offer the way for the others before making his way in last and pressing the arrow to begin their ascent.

Kip spent the ride gesturing to George who seemed distant as she avoided eye contact and remained unresponsive to Kip's nudges and various hand language, all while Proto and the lamplighter found a mutual understanding of elevator etiquette in their joined silence as they stared ahead and pretended to be anywhere else but here, as one does in an elevator with strangers.

In no time, though it felt like an eternity for some of the passengers, they found themselves exiting to the metal railings of the mid-tower pathways as the exhausted lamplighter staggered passed the trio and made his way elsewhere in a hurry.

[Well let's get this over with, the cafe is just down this way.]

"Wait." Kip said coldly as she tugged on Proto's scarf to stop him.

"What's your problem? Why are you bothering to 'help' us, as I'm sure you'd like to put it, if you think it's all just a lie for attention, huh?"

Proto seemed to stare straight through Kip, lost in thought, before turning to face George who seemed to be just as interested in his answer but held a very different attitude as she appeared much more distraught as if she was nearing tears. He quickly looked off to the ground.

[What if.]

"What if WHAT?" Kip nearly shouted.

[Just that. What if.] He repeated, his lens brightening as he looked back her way.

[What if it's not a wild goose chase? What if she didn't make it all up?] he pointed to George.

[I don't know what this is, I just know what it isn't. It isn't father's. So I have my assumptions, but that's all.]

He turned away and took another step towards where he had said the cafe would be found but he stopped again to turn to George momentarily.

[Cedric, for what it's worth, seems to believe you. I wouldn't have given this a second thought if he didn't. I wouldn't mind being wrong.]

With that, the bot turned and began to walk, followed shortly by George, and finally with a stomp to the grating to release her anger, Kip.

* * *

The cafe was honestly just barely out of view from their exit of the elevator, and even then only due to the twisting architecture of the pathways and associated scaffolding from repair jobs ongoing. With the ring of the entry bell the trio were welcomed by a, well, welcoming "Welcome!" from the man behind the counter.

Proto nodded in response before tracing along the establishment to spot Cedric's friends.

"Hello!" came an unexpected call from the trio as George had apparently rebound from her grief, "George is looking for someone, er, someones! To help prove this sour sack wrong!" she called more than loudly enough for the entire place to hear as she spoke to the now taken aback worker.

"Oh. Uh. Huh? I mean, I don't think I'm supposed to just, what?" the man stumbled in response.

"Oh! George is sorry, I haven't introduced any of ourselves. I am George, the owner of the library in Refuge. I'm surprised we haven't met, but George supposes she IS busy more often than not!"

"YOU'RE George, I think I've heard of-"

"And this is Kip, I'm SURE you've heard of her from her-"

"Oh of course, Kip, the scien-"

"From her many science achievements of course, and this here is Proto, a colleague of ours helping on our little expedition of sorts."

The man blunk, mouth half open to respond yet again but expecting to be cut off if they were to try..

[Just go ahead, she'll probably wait until you start anyway.]

With a small laugh to himself he attempted to speak yet again, "I'm Ling, and I'd love to help since I can at the very least recognize Kip and I'm AWARE of you, George, even if we haven't met. But I don't think I can really just seek people out for you all willy-"

[There they are.] Proto said as he pointed to and began walking toward the two bird people in question before George could bother to ask.

"Ah!" George exclaimed, rushing to meet the duo along with Proto.

Kip rubbed her eyes momentarily from the needless whirlwind before apologizing to the confused Ling and following along. 'At least George found a reason to bounce back.'

Now more than a little perplexed thanks to the scene George brought about right before finding themselves surrounded, Alula and Calamus sat frozen mid meal, forks at the ready as they waited on an explanation. Calamus seemed genuinely frozen by the display, while his sister seemed to be playing along as she struggled to stay still.

"My word, just look at Cedric's little friends, oh my George is hardly prepared; Hello! George is so glad to meet you!" George rose an arm high in a simple wave before attempting to continue only for the bird people to interrupt.

"What's this about?" the maroon tinted Calamus began before Alula burst out with a "Proto!" of her own.

[Hello, Alula.] Proto said, as enthusiastic as always, but with a hint of sincerity to be sure.

"Well, we're working on something rather important right now and we were hoping you could help us." Kip started the arduous task of explaining their circumstances.

[We need your feather keepsake, Alula.] Proto said outright, gesturing to her head. Sure enough, she had taken to wearing the golden feather as a decorative hair piece since getting it back from Niko, not unlike Cedric's style, and not without a measure of ridiculousness since she had plenty of feathers of her own that made the 'flair' a touch redundant.

"Proto, I assume what you guys are here about is important and all, but why would you need that?" Calamus asked, putting his utensils down beside his bird seed pancakes. "That… It's sentimental, and I don't see how it holds any value to any of you…"

[Does it really matter? I could spend the next few hours explaining but it comes down to Alula either giving it or not.]

"Hmm." Alula loudly hummed as she rubbed her chin and looked to the ceiling in an exaggerated fashion.

"Maybe!" she answered with a smile.

"Maybe?" George and Kip repeated before they got the chance to chastise Proto.

"Maybe!" the little blue bird nearly sang.

Proto closed his eye and scratched his forehead in annoyance, the metal on metal grind not entirely pleasant on the ears.

[What do you want for it, Alula?]

The youth grinned before answering, "I want YOU to figure that out!"

"Alula, really?" Calamus interjected, not entirely unsurprised.

"Mhmm!" she answered as she took another bite from her meal. "If Proto wants it he'll have to figure out what to give for it!" she managed between mouthfuls.

"Proto. What have you gotten us into with your attitude?" Kip growled as she crossed her arms.

[Usually I have Cedric with me to talk with her, I figured she'd just hand it over.] Proto shrugged before turning to leave.

George sighed, "You're hopeless, Proto." Pretending to 'roll up her sleeves', which she was otherwise lacking, she tried to encourage the crew, "Whelp! Let's get to it! We've gotta find what Alula wants and we've got an entire city to scour!"

With that, the enthusiastic George and irritated Kip followed after Proto as Calamus called out an understanding "Sorry!" to the trio.

What followed was a near complete tour of the town as George sought out various vendors and acquaintances asking for things a young girl might be interested in. All the while Proto merely followed behind staring ahead as the others attempted to fix his little mess.

"Well, I could ask around the lab if you like?" Kip asked as George waved goodbye to her photography friend who failed to come up with anything more than a collage they couldn't possibly make without years of photos built up.

"George just really doesn't think that will lead to anything for her. Perhaps her brother, but he's not the one we're trying to impress."

"Well it couldn't hurt…" Kip continued.

"If I run out of ideas we can head that way, but George would like to ask a few more associates of mine first." She responded as she gave a flourish of her arms towards the elevator heading to the upper limits of some nearby apartments. "I know a gardener, clockmaker, and aquarium enthusiast we can meet in this building, all of which might have some great ideas!"

Kip shook her head, but felt at a loss all the same so she gave in as they went on yet another ride toward likely disappointment.

* * *

A promise of future flowers next season, a sales pitch even George had to decline involving an expensive wind up watch, and one fish-lover saying they had no fish suitable for the Glen on hand -later and the trio found themselves leaning on the railings outside the central elevator tossing ideas at each other.

Or rather, two of them were, as Proto leaned on the elevator itself and remained as uninvolved as he had been from the beginning of this search.

"How are both of us so utterly clueless on this?" Kip groaned. "We've been in her shoes, in a sense, shouldn't we be able to figure something out?"

"George has never claimed to understand how others think or what they might want, that would be presumptuous of George."

The two let out a collective groan as George flipped a coin over the edge into the nearby waterway, making quite a ripple from this high up.

[Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrah.]

Proto threw his hands in the air and stormed off muttering to himself.

"Hmph, what's his problem? We've been doing all the work this whole time." Kip made sure to speak loud enough for him to hear.

[I've got it. And I'm gonna be mad when I'm right.] He called right back, leading to the duo looking at each other before jogging over to follow out of curiosity.

It didn't take long for Kip and George to realize they were heading back to the cafe proper.

"So… what is it?" Kip asked.

[Down this path.] Proto responded.

In just a moment they found themselves before a food vendor apparently selling sweets.

"What's a vendor doing up here instead of on Vendor Street?"

[Does it matter?]

[Excuse me. I'll take one fried sugar skewer.]

"A customer! Fantastic! I finally feel like I've got the hang of making these so I'm sure you'll love it!"

[Thanks.] Proto said, handing over a few coins and grabbing the nauseatingly sweet looking treat.

"Candy?" George asked.

[Sorta.] Proto continued on his way, this time to the cafe proper.

* * *

[Alula.]

"It took you awhile." Alula said with a joyful tone. Calamus and her had finished their meal and opted to hang around chatting with Ling while they waited. "Figure it out?"

[You're ridiculous.] Proto muttered, causing a giggle from Alula.

He held out the treat as a peace offering and, closing his eye and putting a hand to his chest to emphasize his words he said his piece. [Alula, may we have your feather keepsake. PLEASE.]

The young bird person happily took the fried sugar skewer and nodded as she tilted her head down for him to grab it.

With care Proto pulled the feather from her hair and turned to the shocked duo, [Here you go.] He said plainly.

"Ah.. But.. And you? Oh my head hurts. That took nearly ALL DAY." Kip managed as George latched on to the feather and jumped with glee.

"We did it!" She shouted. "We better get back to the library, quick! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can find out what's inside!"

Kip squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she absorbed how their run around was all for naught since Proto was the one who needed to solve things before sighing and following after the excited George.

"Aren't you coming, Proto?" she called back to the bot who had stayed in place with the siblings.

[I'll pass. If this is what your adventures are like, I'm not bothering with them. Just tell me how it goes. Or don't. I'm sure I'll hear from Cedric or Rue if anything comes of this.]

Kip blunk. "You're really going to pass on this?"

Proto shooed them away, [Just go already.]

[And George? I'm sorry. And good luck you two. Regardless of what this is, I don't THINK either of you are being selfish in this. I hope it's something worth the effort.]

"Heh. Maybe you're not that bad, Proto." Kip called his way.

[HEY, who said I was-]

And with that, the two left for the library to see what the feather held in store for them. After this there was supposedly only one more phosphor to 'find' and they already knew where it was being held.

If anything, maybe the end was coming faster than either expected when they initially began?


	5. Chapter 5

The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 5

With a soft click the lights to George's office flipped on as the eponymous librarian led her scientist friend to plan out their next steps and communicate with Rem.

"So do you think they've finished decoding… or whatever it is they do to the die?" Kip pondered aloud as she made herself at home by moving a few stale tomes from an idle chair and moved it closer to the terminal.

"George is sure they've figured out what they could, and she's sure Rem will be ecstatic to see the feather so quickly acquired!" George called as she pushed said tomes near the terminal and sat on them instead.

The two took their seats and stared expectantly at the screen only for silence to greet them. Or at least a blank screen humming with a golden phosphor tinging the edges.

"Do we… really have to do the whole song and dance again with typing to them if they are, y'know, omnipresent?" Kip groaned.

"Eheh…. Not usually?" George responded as she reached out and switched the computer off and on again, not that that accomplished much since it didn't follow the same standards as a normal terminal, instead remaining in its stasis, glow and all.

"Rem?" Kip questioned aloud.

The air seemed to spark to life with an electric tinge before the monitor lit anew, text filling the screen in the same golden glow that was previously staining the glass.

-PHOS*** TO ARK***-

-MANI**** FRO* MACHINE TO BEGIN TRANSF*****-

Similar fragmented messages tormented the screen before ending with a near completed line.

-/Project **** on hold unti* fu*th*r notice, reins tran*f*r** to des*gnati*n AUTHOR. I believ* he is ou* best h*pe, time is shor*, I must ta*e care of my famil*. Sign*d, Dr. Silverpoint/-

George turned to face Kip only to see her eyes rapidly tracing the screen, tears seemed to well as she did until she blunk and surprised herself by the sensation of them falling.

"Kip?" George offered.

"I… ahem. I'm sorry? Why am I crying?" Kip croaked softly as she wiped her face in her sleeve. "I don't think I understand, so is, WHY am I crying?" she ended with an angry shout before centering herself with an upset huff.

"George thinks maybe... You know, like before? When George showed you the map the Author left behind? Maybe more memories are shocking your system? Tell me, do you remember anything more?" She asked with a caring eye on her friend.

Kip rubbed her eyes once more before answering, more in control of her voice now, "I'm... not sure? Wait. A little… vaguely. I just remember… feeling defeated… Wait a minute." Kip shut her eyes tight as she tried her best to visualize any of the disjointed images in her head.

"I… it's true isn't it?" she asked.

-That you, or rather the person you were modeled after in order to receive their memories and allow them to persist in the WM program, were on the original team behind said program? I believe that's obvious and had assumed you already came to that conclusion.-

-You WERE talking about that in here mere days prior.-

"Heh, right… I guess I was just humoring the idea then. But, I remember so much of it now, but it's all so distant. Not just because of all the fog of the corruption, but because I can FEEL my past self giving up on it all and deliberately letting the memories fade."

"But why?" George interjected.

Kip offered a sad smile before painting the picture as succinctly as she could manage, "Can you blame me, or us? We poured everything into the project, but the world was dying and the countdown was reaching hours rather than days or weeks. So many hours, so much burnout, so many cups of coffee and sleepless nights, and not one of them spent with those we love-" her voice cracked. "Ahem. That's. That might be a reason to tear up now wouldn't it? I don't remember anything about them, not a stitch… Rem?"

-I only have records of what I reconstructed or had specifically backed up… And my records would equate to your memories.-

-If the corruption hit you, it hit me. I'm… Sorry.-

A tear rolled slowly down Kip's cheek but she simply smiled. "I think… That's okay. No matter who I was, I'm Kip Silverpoint now. That past life may inform today but it doesn't determine who I am now."

George dabbed her streaming face rampantly with a handkerchief she produced for the moment and wailed loudly, "You said it, Kip!"

She nodded knowingly, "Who we are today is only possible thanks to the work our past lives' did, but that doesn't change us now." she sighed, "But in the end that means not only the corruption, but past me's determination to live her last moments on her own terms without regret, that's what is bringing so much fog to my past memories. If she wanted to forget work, and the corruption erased everything outside of work, then I'm left with not a lot to, heh, work with… But, when you decode these messages, I feel it unraveling ever so slightly. I remember some of those hours spent coding… I remember being close to finishing before things got too real for me to seclude myself on the project…"

-Judging from the data, I'd say you're right about that.-

-I suspect after decoding the second half I may be able to assist in completing the intended epilogue. Of course that would-

George spoke aloud causing the text to seize, "Second half? I thought the Author, or Kip, or whatever, the notes- said we would need yellow phosphor, not 'two samples of yellow phosphor' and the sun seemed pretty prominent in all the relevant notes!"

-Yes, but please allow me to explain.-

-To put it simply, there was a lot more in the die than I had assumed possible.-

-The encoding process was ingenious not just in how it put data into physical form and how intensively it was protected so that even I had no idea it existed until I directly analyzed it-

-But also in how the data exists at all.-

-ANY two yellow phosphors would contain what we needed to see the whole picture as they each contain the same total picture, but only allow an extremely limited and disjointed view unless brought together with a matching phosphor code.-

"So the feather-" Kip quietly mentioned.

-Correct. I believe it, in a sense, holds the rest of the existing epilogue. Fortunately, I now know how to decrypt the initial encryption thanks to the die.-

"But unfortunately…" Kip continued.

-Correct again. Decrypting would only net us the same message, I will need to find how the two fit together to unlock the full message, though I suspect it's... similar.-

"Well, how long will it take to finally see this and get to work on potentially finishing it?" George asked.

The screen wiped its contents a few times before finally presenting Rem's prediction.

-An hour at most.-

"What!" George and Kip both exclaimed.

-When I began feeling out this assumption I also began exploring the data for any patterns that might allow me to solve this puzzle, assuming it ended up being a reality.-

-I believe my preparations will allow me to unlock Kip's past work with haste.-

"It will still be incomplete, won't it?" Kip followed up.

-Correct. Or. Potentially. This appears to be the entirety of your epilogue as it was backed up upon your exit from the project. The Author safeguarded it before altering a copy to create the simulation framework we run today.-

-But if what scraps of intelligible text I could understand are to be trusted, it appears you stopped work on the project well into the process of penning this 'Epilogue'. I'm incredibly curious as to what we can learn from this, but I fear… If it ends up being incomplete-

"We just figure out the rest, right?" Kip said with a hint of worry to her voice.

The room grew cold for a moment before Rem continued.

-Kip…-

-The Author did what he did for a reason. That implies it was not complete. And if he couldn't complete it, and we know less about the project than he did. It doesn't matter who you used to be. It doesn't matter what my processors can handle. I do not believe we are capable of understanding the outside world well enough to complete the Epilogue.-

-It was too risky for the Author, it's even more risky for us to do more than look upon what remains.-

-The Epilogue was penned as far as it ever will be, the most we can do is see if anything useful remains; Much like how the Author had when he crafted this version of our world.-

Kip's eyes fell to the keys of the console as she absorbed this apparent failure concluding their adventure.

Seeing this sadness, George did her best to snap her out of things by placing a hand on her shoulder and repeating what they said at the start of this all.

"Kip, we still have the lives this world grants us. It's not the end of our world if this epilogue remains… George doesn't know how to put it, unattained? Sure, it's a future we might not see but we still have a future!" she shook her friend slightly as she spoke causing Kip to look up to George with a half-hearted smile.

-For now I think you both should head to the sun's tower.-

George blunk, "The tower? But what about giving the feather and-" she hushed to a murmur as the screen flashed Rem's response.

-The bulk of… me, still exists in the tower. This is simply the last tendril of presence I hold outside of the sun's cradle.-

-I'll work faster if I can see the code more clearly; Hold it more closely.-

-And if I'm to trust what is legible from the die alone…-

-We're going to need the Sun for what comes next.-

-If…-

Kip blunk as she read.

"So there's a chance?"

-I do not know what it contains yet.-

-I only know what it most likely contains.-

-I think you both know very well just how wrong I am capable of being.-

Kip threw her fists up and nodded confidently, filled with a sense of renewed vigor "Let's do it, George!" The excitement shocked her friend slightly, "Regardless of how this all turns out, if taking the feather closer to Rem means we can figure this out sooner then what are we doing wasting time here!"

"Uh.. I suppos- whaaa!" George shrieked toward the console as Kip grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Next stop, the Sun's tower to give Rem the feather in person… er, more or less.

* * *

The air around the tower always felt like it stood still, possibly because of rather than in spite of the sun's presence.

Kip tore her eyes from the top of the tower and looked to her companion only to see her doing the same. After sharing a short awkward chuckle, the two approached the door only for the automated entryway to slide open for them.

With a deep breath they both stepped in as the elevator-like door closed behind them.

"Heh. Do you think we'll have to climb the whole tower to get to the sun?" George joked to lighten the mood.

Kip looked around the area for some sign of where to go, it wasn't her first time in the tower but every time she entered it seemed… different. The layout never remained the same, though it always included a dead end elevator. "I hope not or we're doomed." Kip joked right back. "What I wonder is where we find Rem…"

Suddenly a din of voices startled both of them from the emptiness of the tower before it began to take a more easily understood form, slowly losing voices until only a few remained. The most prevalent of which being Niko's, a voice they hadn't heard in quite some time.

The voice fell quiet for a moment as the two looked through the darkness with futility.

-George, Kip, you've arrived.- The same 'voice' said, in a manner they both felt they recognized.

"Rem?" George called into the void like darkness.

-Yes. It's a bit easier to draw strength here so I may speak. If you come to the center of this room I'll take the feather if you may. From there, I suppose you will have to wait.-

Kip looked to George and held out her hand causing George to jump slightly as she began digging through her pockets causing Kip to furrow her brow and point to George's hat.

With a soft laugh, George reached up and removed the feather from it's temporary home and handed it to Kip.

"Where do you want it?" Kip asked as the two of them walked into the dark interior, but as the words left her mouth the walls shifted, many rising out of the way and flooding the ambient light of a red phosphor laden pool their way. The water encircled the core of the tower itself, the sun's elevator. A single catwalk runway lowered into place leading across the pool and to the closed doorway.

"Ah." Kip quietly murmured as George fell to a similar speechless demeanor.

As they approached, the doorway opened revealing darkness and nothing else. Despite being surrounded by the light of the pool, neither of them could make out so much as a floor to the inside of the elevator.

"Is it safe?" George asked.

-Yes, but I only need you to toss the feather in for the moment. I can redirect this elevator wherever I please; in this case directly to me.-

Kip let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in at the revelation they wouldn't need to take a leap of faith. Putting on a brave face she leaned toward the abyss of the elevator as she carefully reached her hand through the doorway. Still unable to judge where the floor actually lay, she slowly lowered the feather until it made contact with the surface before stepping back for the doors to close.

Kip jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Sorry! Sorry. I was going to ask what you wanted to do while we wait?" a now startled George asked.

Kip felt her hair slowly descend after standing on end and admitted that she hadn't thought that far ahead.

* * *

An hour had passed as George and Kip made their way out of Kip's lab and down the floor of the factory before making their way out to the red phosphor lined walkways of Refuge. They spent some time pondering the big questions of the epilogue, but just as usual their talk eventually devolved to jokes and idle questions about books and robots. They approached the darkened underpass of the tower's entrance in high spirits.

"Rem? We're back!" George called as the doorway opened and the duo made their way inside.

The normally everchanging interior was the same as they had left it, so without much thought the two made their way to the elevator before they realized the lack of a welcome they had been given.

"Rem?" Kip said, turning to look through the darkness as if the console itself would show itself.

"Reeeeem?" George called more loudly.

The air shifted before Rem's voice returned.

-Sorry. Sorry. I was just taking in how the Epilogue…-

"Oh." Kip interrupted, a visible wince striking her from the moment Rem began speaking.

"Hmm? Kip?" George began before the old rhyme and dance set in and she understood. "Oh! Now that Rem's finished George bets you remember quite a bit more of the project, right?" She clapped her hands together in excitement. "So don't keep George waiting, how far along WAS it? Was Rem wrong? Is it something we can complete, or was this just a fun diversion?" George's enthusiasm for even the worst case scenario couldn't help but make Kip smile as the mental dust settled from the rush.

-Kip, I'm glad the experience passed more favorably this time but-

Kip's smile grew as her thoughts found order in the chaos of memories and she spun to her friend, entirely disregarding Rem, "George! None of this was a waste!"

"If you recall, George said even if nothing could be done it-"

"No, George, listen to me, the epilogue was complete! It was done entirely, the Author just refused to try it alone!" she excitedly sang.

-Kip.-

"So we can do it? Is it exactly what we thought it was? We just-" George tried to talk but was cut off by the pumped up Kip once more.

"Yes! Our world will be placed right in open space on Niko's world and we'll be free of relying on simulation! We just have to-" Kip stopped as all light in the room was cut as the pool of water was covered by a retractable floor.

-KIP.- Rem called in only what could be described as an angry tone that shook the tower's interior.

George and Kip held onto each other to keep a semblance of place in the darkness as Rem finally said their piece.

-We can not run the Epilogue.-

-It's…-

Kip furrowed her brow and interrupted, "Yes, we can. I know what state it was left in. It's ready to run I'm sure of it! We just need to get to the sun and-"

-Kip. It's untested. It's too risky to trust your past lives projections when our entire existence is at stake.-

Kip glared into the darkness but let out a sigh of defeat, "So you're going to hold it hostage from us. Our future?"

The light slowly returned as the waterways were allowed to breath once more allowing George and Kip to see each other once more.

Seeing George's apparent disappointment lowered Kip's spirits even further.

"George, it's-"

"Rem's right, aren't they?" she interrupted.

"Huh?" Kip suddenly felt more alone.

"They're right, aren't they? It is unproven… George is amazed it was this far along to begin with, I mean all the incredible information we've uncovered is spectacular. To think you played such an instrumental part in what this world was created to do…" George's voice seemed to rise in joy but the sides were cracking as her own sadness broke through. She cleared her throat.

"We have to stop here… Rem… They know better, don't they?"

-Kip, I can see what the code is meant to do-

"So you see I was right, that I finished it! It's ready to-"

-Yes.-

-But the Author decided against it for a reason.-

-He…-

-His own comments exist within this as well.-

Kip's determination faltered as she traced her eyes downward, the world becoming a lot more shaky and wet with tears than she experienced a moment ago.

"The Author? Why?" She whimpered.

"Kip… George said it was important for the journey, didn't she?" George offered as she rubbed her friend's shoulders. The shaking spread to her body at this point as she struggled to steady her breathing.

"It's okay, Kip. We have so much more certainty now, and so many glimpses into the insight that lead to our very creation! Certainly that's worth a closed door or two?" She continued, attempting to soothe Kip's dread.

Suddenly Kip burst forward, pushing George aside and slamming her fists into the elevator door.

"It's not his call!" she yelled, her voice dripping with malice.

"I worked so hard on this project, I sought out the fragments, we can make things even better and he just says no?" She slammed the door again. Her eyes wild with anger she slammed again and again as George watched helplessly from the side.

"Why? What did he have to say?! Why didn't he run it! Why won't you?!" Kip's voice turned to venom as she continued her assault on the door.

-It's…-

"What is it!?" Kip shouted.

-It's my fault.-

-I had no idea.-

-But it was my fault.-

Kip stopped her fists on the door and breathed heavy as newfound confusion struck her.

-The project was complete.-

-The Epilogue is ready to run.-

-Everything accounted for.-

-Except.-

Kip's eyes moved rapidly as if reading the code from her memories before it clicked and she let the last of her fire seep from her lips, "You."

George gasped.

Kip exhaled a breath still hot with rage she didn't expect to hold as her fists relaxed and slid to her sides. She momentarily rested her head on the door before the newfound shakiness of her outburst made her turn and lay her back against it for stability.

She caught a glimpse of George's shocked expression at the beating and revelation and quickly turned away.

Everything fell quiet, save for the idle movement of the water surrounding the elevator.

-I'm sorry.-

"No." Kip let out, eyes glued to the darkness.

"I… didn't think that far. I didn't know."

"'We' didn't know." George added, surprising Kip.

"Rem?" Kip began.

Instead of a direct response, an uncertain sound filled the room as Rem failed to find the words.

"What exactly did the Author say in the finished code." She begged the question.

-He…-

-Mentioned finding an anomaly.-

-Something he believed to be benign, but entirely unexpected.-

-He realized that utilizing the Epilogue would corrupt.-

-No.-

-Destroy, all used as a carrier to move the world to Niko's plain.-

"That means…" George whispered.

-Yes. Me.-

-He had found me, and instead of seeing the Epilogue as a solution that would rid you all of me, he…-

"He didn't want to so inhumanely destroy you… Especially so soon after you gained a life of your own." Kip finished.

-Kip. I understand your anger. I am a barrier you didn't expect or deserve.-

"Rem!" George called more loudly than either of them had spoken prior.

"Don't you dare go calling yourself that!"

-George, if not for me you all would be living better lives.-

-Both in terms of being out of this simulation, and in terms of not enduring all I put you through.-

-Kip is extremely justified in-

"The heck I am!" Kip shouted as angrily as before, more so perhaps.

"I was wrong, Rem. Plain and simple. I assumed the worst, thought you held our exit away out of spite. But this…" Her voice fell slightly but maintained its strength.

"This is scary." She coughed.

"And if I had been there with the Author… I would have made the same call." She smiled.

-Kip… Thank you.-

Kip let out a breath at the tension this all seemed to hold.

"But… Now what do we do? Give up?" She turned to George who shrugged in response.

The room fell quiet as the three thought. Kip leaned back to the doorway and slid down it to sit once more, the rampant emotional energy drained her batteries more than she expected.

"Well I didn't expect THAT…" Came an unexpected voice that made both George and Kip jump slightly as they looked desperately through the dark for it's owner.

In a moment a pitter patter came from the darkness revealing a small red fox walking down the path to the elevator.

"Rue!" George exclaimed, rushing over to sweep the fox off her feet and quickly spinning her around.

"Where in the world have you been! George said you could come to the library to visit at any time and I haven't seen a single hair of yours in weeks!"

Rue fell into an embarrassed fluster as she stammered in response.

"George will have you know that both Cedric AND Proto have seen fit to come visit auntie George but where has their sister been? Hmmm?" George taunted as she gave a clearly faux accusatory eye to her handheld captive.

"I… I've been… around." Rue attempted.

"Hmph! Around, she says." George carefully put Rue back on her feet.

"George expects this kind of betrayal from someone like Proto with his too cool to care attitude, but Rue, honestly. You can always make time to visit!"

"R.. right." Rue managed.

Kip couldn't help but feel the poor fox's embarrassment for herself but changing the subject back couldn't hurt.

"Rue?" Kip offered. "I haven't seen you since the whole end of the world, eh, situation." Rue seemed to tense up expecting another volley of aunt-like treatment. "Why did you come by the tower now?"

Rue blunk realizing the distraction she fell into. "Oh, right. Ahem."

"I was going to say I hadn't expected the epilogue to be something father put on hold, but that does sound like him, doesn't it?"

Kip nodded before realizing something, "That doesn't answer why you came here."

Rue laughed, "It's not that complicated. Cedric and Proto have been keeping me up to date and I figured I'd poke in and see how this coalesces, or I thought I would. Sounds like things stall here, don't they?" She frowned slightly.

George and Kip nodded as they came to terms with that same fact but suddenly Rem gave them a jolt.

-Maybe not…-

"What?" The three said in unison.

-The Epilogue wasn't designed with me in mind.-

-To be honest, even beyond my own survival it wasn't fully tested as is.-

-The Author wanted to protect me, but that is not why I said we can not run the Epilogue.-

Kip blunk, "What do you mean?"

-I. I don't consider myself a big enough barrier to stop the Epilogue assuming it works.-

"No! Rem! Don't be ridiculous!" George cried out, upset by the idea.

-No, George, I'd say that's my call if anyone's.-

-But that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is I'm uncertain it will work on all of you.-

-I'm not willing to risk all of your lives just because the project was labeled as complete.-

Kip sighed, "We're not running it anyway because none of us would like to see you left behind… whatever that entails…" She shuddered. "So what does it matter?"

-Well…-

-If we can find another sample of yellow phosphor, we could test the Epilogue in a smaller capacity.-

"What do you mean?" George asked.

Kip's eyes lit with understanding, "Oh."

"What are you 'oh'ing about, Kip?" George turned to face her friend, worry about Rem betraying her expression.

"Rem means we can send someone ahead of us, you know, to make sure it works." Kip explained. "The sun was the intended fuel for the Epilogue, but if we use another yellow phosphor we might be able to run a test?" She pondered the specifics of the idea.

"But, Rem. Even if it works, I won't let you run the full Epilogue! Not if it means you…" George called out sternly.

-I'm not saying we go that far. Not yet. I'd like to know if it works in the first place, and I might be able to see how it will affect me if we try taking some of me along for the ride.-

George frowned as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"It doesn't sound entirely out of the question." Kip offered.

"It'd be nice to see if it works…"

George took a deep breath and sighed in defeat.

"Alright, but it's just a test! Besides, where are we going to get more yellow phosphor to run this test? It's not exactly common and George can't think of anything...outside of… well, Niko did have an amber piece at one point. Where did that end up, George wonders..."

"Oh no…" Kip muttered.

"Hmm?" George questioned.

"I think I know where we can get some more phosphor to use…" She whispered.

George jumped, "That's fantastic news! This adventure isn't coming to an end just yet!" She winked. "So where to?"

Kip sighed. "We're going to have to catch a boat. We're heading to the Barrens. It's about time I make amends with someone who really… really doesn't want to…"

Rue gave a knowing look as she thought on where this would lead.

George gave a puzzled look as Kip called out to Rem.

"Is there REALLY no other phosphor you can locate?"

-I can't feel much of the world as of late… I can't even locate what you're referring to.-

"Great." Kip groaned before taking a deep breath and smacking her cheeks. "Well. I've wanted this for a long time, but I… Well I've never been strong enough to confront her face to face. Let's do this."

"Is anyone going to explain this to George." George huffed as Rue gave a spectacular leap that landed her on George's shoulder.

"If I had to guess, this has to do with that taming event father helped with. Silver, wasn't it?" Rue pondered.

Kip closed her eyes a moment. "Yeah. I think it's time I pay her a visit in person."

She began her way to the exit of the tower beconning the others to follow.

"I'll explain on the way. We've got a little bit of a trip before we get there. I'm sure I've told you before, George." Her sorrowful expression turned a bit more humored as she pointed out George's forgetfulness.

"N-nonsense! You must have forgone telling George in the first place!" George called out defiantly as she chased after her friend.


	6. Chapter 6

The Author's Final Epilogue - Chapter 6

The gentle sloshing of rows striking the infinite darkness of the glistening water repeated again and again as the cramped rowboat made its way to the Barrens.

Looking around it was evident that 'excitement' wasn't the attitude the new crew held at this hour.

After having left the tower, George, Kip, and Rue spent the bulk of their day getting to this point.

A series of elevators, walkways, and wrestling George away from distractions had ensued as they left Refuge, and only barely managed to make it through the Glenn.

The sun had dimmed to signal another day gone, but the three continued walking all the same. Not a word came wishing to take a break for the evening after what had come before.

Hearing Kip's story of failure had shocked George who redoubled her efforts claiming they had to do this for Silver and Kip more so than for the Epilogue, and Rue was supportive of this as well.

Kip, on the other hand, found her mind falling silent. Perhaps from the exhaustion of the recent whirlwind of emotions. Perhaps it just fell to the same stasis it usually did when she thought of what to say to Silver. But her feet moved forward through the greenery of the Glen simply because her companions laid the path with their own.

Things had been quiet for a while now. Just gentle splashing in a cramped boat not meant for so many. It was a miracle the rowbot could manage such a weight capacity, only demanding George left behind a few unnecessary tomes and treats.

'Perhaps the rowbot's mistaken on the weight limit in the first place.' Kip had thought as they climbed aboard. She couldn't help but recall this not being an issue before...

Having dimmed as they made their way through the Glenn, it was now fully night, allowing the air to fill with the subtle glow of agitated phosphor from the rowboat's sailing and the unmistakable, though distant, glow of the Glen and Refuge proper.

It was peaceful. Or it would be if the idleness of everything didn't raise more anxiety about what in the world Kip was supposed to do once they arrived.

Kip opened her eyes once more to break from the silence of her own head to look out at the infinite around them before glancing back to her friends.

It wasn't just her who felt exhausted, that was for certain. Rue had openly admitted her own weariness when they first arrived at the boat, appreciatively accepting the opportunity to rest in George's lap as they had climbed aboard.

George hadn't seemed the least bit affected by all that had happened, or the passing of time for that matter, but the second Rue dozed off George was out like a light leaving only Kip and the rowbot conscious at this twilight hour.

Kip was glad to not have more questions to answer, but she found it hard not to be jealous of the two of them being relaxed enough to rest as they approach one of her biggest regrets.

Kip sighed as the world seemed to shift further and further from the concept of light as a whole as the land behind them shrunk into nothing.

* * *

Silver.

I had no way of knowing-

No.

I tried everything I knew, it's not fair for you to-

No. Entirely no.

I'm being defensive.

I made her this way.

I played god.

I wonder if I've always done that?

Kip shook her head and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

I wonder if she blames herself for it?

Or if she's avoiding me for my doing.

Kip furrowed her brow and squeezed her eyes shut in minor anger.

If only she'd respond to my letters before then this wouldn't be a problem in the first place!

Sure I made a mistake but I've tried!

If she would just stop being so stubborn and-

GrrrrrrrrRRRA.

I'm a moron.

Of COURSE she's stubborn!

She's like me!

Of COURSE she's hurt!

Of course she's avoiding me.

Of course she's…

Crap.

I'm the one avoiding her and she knows it.

She's known it longer than I have and she's probably thinking the worst of me for it.

Of course it's my turn; Of course I'm the one who's supposed to step up and be available after what I put them through, but Silver probably thinks I've written her off for hurting-

I am. A. Complete. Idiot.

Kip softly and mockingly tapped her forehead with her fist.

You complete and total idiot.

Sit around waiting on someone who thinks I despise them to crawl back when I'm the one who needs to apologize. I tossed her aside in my shame and then had the blindsided ignorance to think penpalling things would make everything better.

A soft whistle came from the rowbot's direction causing Kip to open her eyes to see them facing her and pointing to the upcoming land.

Oh no.

* * *

Kip swallowed her nerves and gently shook George's shoulder to rouse the two other passengers.

"We're here, guys. It won't take long to get to Silver's and there's no doubt she's awake and ready… y'know? Since she's a robot and-"

George yawned and waved her hand in Kip's face before interrupting further, "George thinks we all haven't forgotten that, Kip. But did you forget that we aren't?" She turned a clearly comedic glare her way before carefully adjusting Rue into her arms so she could stand and climb out of the boat without waking her.

"Well.. yeah but…" Kip began only for George to raise an eyebrow, somehow, quickly quieting the whole thing.

"Lead the way~" George said quietly as she made landfall.

Kip opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't seem to find what it was and instead hoped it was too dark to notice as she began making her way to the Head Engineer's office where Silver should be found.

* * *

The walk from the boat's dock to the office was a short one, but eerie all the same.

No effort had been done to repopulate the Barrens since the sun's return. It remained desolate… quiet. The only noise piercing the glowing craters of the land were the occasional robot still following their orders, or a piece of machinery left idle with no one to man them.

Now they were walking along the sudden dropoffs of the cliffside path leading directly to Silver. Her abode clearly in view.

And through all this the only thing Kip had succeeded in doing was berating herself for failing Silver up to this point, and she knew well and good that self pity was worthless here.

George and Kip walked along the narrow pathway to Silver's doorway and stopped in their tracks. George, looking to Kip's leadership in this, gave a beckoning gesture as best she could with her arms full of a still sleeping Rue only for Kip's eyes to remain glued to the floor immediately inside the open doorway.

She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. And reached a hand up, knocking on the doorway itself instead of letting herself in.

A small shuffling of things from just outside their view could be heard, followed by a few metallic footsteps.

Kip realized she still had her eyes squeezed shut as tightly as they could manage and slowly opened one, and then the other.

Silver stood before them and the expression on her face could only be described as shocked, eyes wide, almost fearful before quickly shifting to a plain, if annoyed, stare directed someplace behind where Kip's head should be.

"I knew I should have installed a door." she seemed to absent-mindedly mutter, causing a nervous giggle to come from George as she struggled with this interaction.

Kip's mouth opened and closed like an idle fish before Silver closed her eyes in irritation and coldly asked the obvious question.

"What are you doing here, Kip?"

George's eye darted to Kip's face and did her best to fill the dead air.

"Oh! You must be Silver! George has heard, well not a lot but so very much about you!" Her voice started strong before she felt a nudge in her chest and looked down to see Rue waking from the excitement causing her to nervously cough as she lowered the small one to the ground.

Silver opened her eyes and looked directly at George, tracing her up and down, sizing her up. She then turned back to Kip and repeated the question.

"Kip. Why are you here? Really."

"We need your help!" Kip coughed out, eyes going wide at her own stumble.

Silver's shock returned for a moment before being replaced with something much more morose, dejected, and without a doubt, annoyed.

"I mean, no! I wanted to-" Kip began before Silver's voice returned, colder than before.

"I see. But what else should I expect. Perhaps you finally found a use for me after all?" She scowled, arms tense at her sides.

"I believe you can find your way back to Refuge just fine on your own." Silver spat before turning to head back into the darkness of the home.

"Wait!" Kip called as she reached out, stopping herself from overstepping her bounds and entering uninvited.

Things fell quiet with Silver stopping in her tracks but refusing to face them. Kip loudly cleared her throat to regain her composure.

"It's true. We do need your help." She began.

"If I didn't make it clear, the answer is no." Silver said in a plain voice, still facing the dark inside.

Kip winced. "I understand. But. I mean." She looked to George who did her best to look optimistic.

Deep breaths.

"We came all this way and-"

"And that's my responsibility, how?" Silver shook her head.

"No!" Kip felt unable to speak properly.

"Silver, we're already here, so can I speak to you at least. It doesn't have to involve the favor we came for."

Kip jolted her eyes from the doorway to Silver and back, struggling to face any of this head on.

"I didn't know you'd upset her so greatly, Kip." A quiet voice peeped up from near Kip's legs.

She turned a menacing glare down to the fox which left Rue uncharacteristically meek at her misstep.

Silence.

Kip slowly trailed her eyes from the doorway to Silver and saw her peeking over her shoulder, considering her.

They locked eyes causing Silver to sigh and gesture them in as she pulled the chairs out from the chess table.

The trio timidly entered as if already walking on eggshells and followed as Silver set out the two chairs and quickly realized the insufficient seating, opting to lean against the chess table itself which caused a few pieces to clatter to the floor.

Kip took to leaning against the back of the chair instead of sitting so that she would remain at odds with Silver, while George took a seat with Rue.

Silver remained locked onto Kip, awaiting… something. It was impossible to read her. All expression had left save for the idle exhaustion or sadness she had come to embody.

She looked defeated, and that only made Kip feel like she failed her even more than before.

Kip found it hard to look at so she turned to a nearby table and saw an unfortunate talking point.

"I see you've received my letters…" She said idly, the words hadn't registered to herself before being said but it was too late to pretend she said nothing.

"Yes." Silver said plainly.

"Did you… read them?" Kip continued, looking back to Silver to see if she reacted in the slightest.

"Some of them." She sighed looking over to the messy pile of half opened mail lying on the table.

"I meant-" Kip began.

"Please. Spare me. If you meant anything in those pieces of paper you would have been here ages ago. Not sending letters to make yourself feel better." Silver's face remained unchanged, but her words cut deep.

"No, that's not true, I've been far too busy to just-" Kip became defensive.

"You are the lead scientist in that robot factory of yours. Any work done there is started by your own hand. You aren't under anyone's mandate but your own, so if you're too busy to see your little failure then it's by your own decision." Silver glared at Kip. "You decide to be too busy."

"That's…"

"Uhm… That IS true, Kip." George interjected, causing Kip to turn her saddened eyes to her friend. "You're only busy because you make it that way. Your work is invaluable, of course, George would be the first to say as much, but no one is asking that you seclude yourself all day every day working away as you do…"

"Silver, it's not because of you though. That's just." Kip bit her lip a moment. "That's just how I work. That's how I handle things. I didn't do it to avoid you."

"Maybe that's the case, but the result is the same. If it mattered, you'd take a break. Like with whatever you're doing now. So maybe it was just convenient that you were already so busy you could easily avoid me?" Silver's voice hummed as if it momentarily fell unstable.

Kip closed her eyes and glared at her own eyelids. "I sent those letters for a reason, Silver. I wanted to apologize and speak again. You're the one who avoided responding!"

Silence for a moment. George and Rue bounced back and forth looking between the two similarly appearing women, awaiting a response from one or the other.

"Even now you can't admit it without demanding I am equally culpable." Silver said coldly. "Yes. Of course I avoided you, anyone can see that. I have a stack of evidence that I keep as a reminder of that fact! But WHY would I do that, Kip? I'm supposed to be based off of you, so I think you can figure it out."

The fire that sparked Kip's accusation snuffed out just as quickly as it arose.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Silver parroted with some hostility.

"I… misstepped. I keep getting wrapped up in defending myself like a selfish idiot." Kip took a breath and looked Silver square in the eyes.

"Silver. You're right. I've avoided you and had hoped you'd do the heavy lifting in repairing that."

Silver's eyes opened slightly wider as she listened.

"I avoided you because I was ashamed."

"Of me."

"No. Never." Kip's eyes were piercing and steady despite betraying an emotional toll as they grew wet. "How could I be ashamed of you? I made you. I put you through experimental taming just to see if it could be done. I was so full of myself and my robotics that I was certain I could do no wrong and you would come out perfectly. That I could create the life found inside a tamed robot painlessly."

Kip's voice began to shake before she coughed on her word and continued more clearly.

"I placed impossible expectations on you and then when you were brought into this world, broken and afraid, I didn't understand. I couldn't have made a mistake, but now I had and it was causing pain. I reached out to you and-"

Silver looked away.

"It's okay. I felt helpless. I had failed you. We're lucky that the Author was there to help."

Kip glanced to her friends only to see what she should have expected, George crying into a handkerchief while Rue patted her arm to comfort her.

"I avoided you because I was ashamed of what I did to you… and that compounded on itself the more I thought of it. The more I realized what my avoidance would mean to you. That's why I started writing… because I thought I could just wash it away without having to face things directly."

"I thought if I said I was sorry vaguely through a letter and gave you a place to belong then everything would just be okay. That I wouldn't have to face that I put you through something so traumatizing. I assumed you would just know exactly what I was thinking and be okay with everything, that you'd respond to my letters and we'd get along. But… I suppose it's much more likely you'd assume you hurting me bred resentment… or that I sent you away as punishment or to hide my mistakes. Maybe I did."

Kip looked away.

"Maybe I did. Just as I overstepped my boundaries and played the creator with no intention of devoting my responsibility to what I'd create. Just as I saw the best outcome and said that's the only outcome while others around me offered warnings."

"That's what the Author meant when he told me that taming was more complicated than I made it out to be. You have to take responsibility. To respect the other and care about them. But when things went wrong I didn't see my failings, I saw you not meeting my expectations."

"I…" Kip took a breath.

"I realized this soon after. When the Author confronted me. Solved all my problems and told me how disappointed he was to see me take such a risk the way I did… I guess he had reason to expect different from me…"

"Maybe it was foolish to come here. It was selfish after all I've already put you through. I think you were right to join in the avoidance, between the two of us you have much better reasoning to do so."

Kip waved to George and Rue. "Come on, let's go. I have no right to show my face here."

"Will you please stop the self defeated monologue and look at Silver already!" Rue shouted in an unexpectedly aggressive tone.

Kip blunk in surprise before looking back to Silver glaring at the chair seat between them, her eyes shaking in a whirlwind of emotion she'd rarely express since accepting her seclusion.

It hurt to see. It hurt to face her.

"Silver?" Kip asked.

"Silver?" George and Rue echoed.

Silver blunk rapidly, reaching up to wipe her face as if she had let a tear roll by, something no one in the room was certain she was capable of.

Keeping her eyes covered she opened her mouth but only a hum escaped as she struggled to filter her thoughts.

Another moment of silence as Silver swallowed her tongue and cleared her throat.

Her hand lowered to show her unreadable face, eyes closed, and her words cool.

"I am glad you've thought more than nothing about me since then."

Kip squirmed at what came next.

"What do you want, Kip?" Silver continued. Lacking in all expression and colder than her last words.

Kip coughed and nervously stumbled with her words, "We need, uh, we're working on a-." she coughed again, "The amber medal… The one the Author used to have. I know when Niko was here they told me you gave it to them, and I thought after they left you might-"

"I have it."

"Yeah but-"

"Is that all?" Silver's voice cracked despite it's cold tone.

"I.. we, no?" Kip said, frantically looking between George and Rue. "I didn't want to just take it and leave, it was just…" Kip didn't believe her own words, Silver seemed to know as much.

"The truth, or you can just leave without it." Silver opened her eyes and glared Kip's way, again looking through her.

"I-" Kip again looked to her friends only for George to tense up and nervously look to the half toppled chess board while Rue batted a paw Kip's way provoking her to speak.

Kip took a short breath, closing her eyes before looking Silver directly into her own.

"I came for the amber because we need it to ease the world machine's worries. I'm trying to be thorough this time and not rush forward hapless and to create more suffering for others in my recklessness."

Hearing the world machine brought up piqued Silver's interest, but she was much more interested to see Kip wasn't finished.

"That was the whole of why I got on the boat here. But while on that boat I dwelled on something more important to me which is why I found the strength to knock-" George coughed just awkwardly enough to draw attention momentarily, "- to talk with you at all." Kip's eyes grew more fierce as she demanded Silver see her as she speaks.

"The way I treated you, as a mistake when the mistake was wholly my own, has dug at me since day one. If I didn't care, I'd have sent George and Rue to speak with you. I'm sure they'd have an easy time convincing you, and I'd get to continue sweeping my personal faults under the rug and pretending they don't exist. That I'm not ashamed of my actions. That I owed no apology or understanding beyond some letters sent to alleviate my own guilt without offering any care or support."

Kip refused to break eye contact.

"I failed you, Silver. That's why I'm here. We-" Kip gestured to her friends, "came for the amber. But I came to speak with you."

There was no hint of a response in Silver's eyes unlike before.

"I don't know what comes next. Whether you give us the amber. Whether I wanted to say all this for forgiveness or just to admit to myself I failed you. Whether I'll ever get to speak to you again after today. But I'm done hiding that selfishness from myself instead of addressing it." She closed her eyes.

"So, may we please have the medal. I can use it to test my hypothesis without putting anyone else at risk and… It's important to me. That's really all there is to it. I can't justify going forward without testing, and Rem wouldn't let me if I wanted to. So I either leave here with the medal and get to continue my test, or I end things here entirely."

She opened her eyes again, "Please-" she cut herself short when she saw Silver holding out the amber medal on its necklace thread as she averted her gaze.

"Are you sure?" Kip quietly asked as she reached toward it.

Silver closed her eyes, still looking away. "Yes. I believe you. You know, he said this would happen?" she laughed softly.

"I told him he was delusional. But when the Author gave me this he had a lot to say about you. About how your motivation to build and create had made you reckless. How you were on a path to realize this. How you would regret hiding me."

"I told him you'd just continue regretting me entirely. But he was adamant. He was certain, like he'd known you for many lifetimes and could read you like a book. Maybe he wasn't so off base." Silver's dim red eyes seemed to glide through the air as she relived these talks with the Author.

Kip blunk away some overwhelming feelings as she reached for and grabbed the necklace tie and gently twirled the medal before her.

"Hey."

Kip snapped out of her head and back to Silver.

"This doesn't make everything go away. But, uh. We can talk again. Maybe send some letters." Silver managed, she seemed tense, but sincere.

Kip smiled, now suddenly feeling the weight of her pushing Silver away all at once as she rubbed the back of her head, fiddling with her hair. "I'd like that, or you could come back to Refuge next time? I'm sure the Barrens could go a day without their lead engineer…"

"Aaaaaaahhhhww!" came the loud wail of George, all caught up in the moment and squeezing Rue. "George was certain she'd have to bail you out! And Rue had said the very same since she heard of our previous adventures! But, Waaaahhh! You two handled that so maturely, George is so proud of you both!" She continued loudly crying as she pulled the two unwilling look alikes into a group hug.

A short bout of a person, a bot, and a fox all trying to break free from an emotionally bursting George later and the four of them let go and gathered their breath.

"Kip?" Silver began, gaining her attention. "Who's Rem? You mentioned them and some test, what's going on in the first place? If the world machine is involved is this even safe?" She shuddered. "Last time they were involved things weren't. Pleasant."

"Oh, they aren't like that anymore! George swears." George interrupted confidently, which only caused Silver to furrow her brow in more confusion and interest.

Kip laughed off George's words and ran the mental math on how to explain any of this, "It's… complicated."

* * *

"So, I think that's it?" Kip said with a slight lack of confidence as she looked to her friends who nodded approvingly.

"Hm." Silver let out as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"You're going to do what I think you're going to, aren't you?" she said plainly.

Kip pulled back, "What do you mean?" she feigned ignorance.

"No games. You modeled me after yourself, afterall. While we're hardly the same, we think alike on a lot of things. You're planning on being the test subject, aren't you? Use my medal as fuel and risk yourself to prove it works?" Again, Silver spoke plainly, the cold tone seemed to unintentionally return.

George's eye went wide as she quickly moved in and tugged Kip's shoulder, "That's not it, right? You wouldn't do such a thing, we were going to do… Something else! Anything else, to test the epilogue?... Weren't we?"

"I... I want to be sure, George. I want to know this works. Eh… Besides! It's my work, I'm certain it'll work..." Kip poorly attempted to reassure the room.

Silver gave a cold glare that said all that needed said on that.

Kip looked to the ground, "Alright, I'm not as confident as I could be… But we have to send someone. We can't just run it pointlessly. Yellow Phosphor isn't a plentiful resource, and we need the bulk of it for the main run. We have this medal- this singular shot to test the epilogue. We can't just send a random object and assume it worked just because they vanished from here. We need to send both a recorder for either myself or Rem to read, and a living being to see that they… you know."

"Don't die." Silver dropped.

"Right…" Kip admitted.

"You…" Rue began, squeezing her eyes shut as she looked for the words. "IDIOT." She shouted, bringing all eyes to her in surprise.

"You can't just risk your life over this! We worked so hard, ALL of us, George, Silver, my siblings, father, and of course Niko and god. We worked SO hard to save this world and you're going to, what? Throw your part in this world away?" Rue was visibly shaking as her tail stood on end.

"Rue, I-" Kip said.

"No! I'm not letting all the sacrifice, all the care we've all put into this go to waste so that you can jump into fire to see if it's hot! Father put us here in this world for a reason, he didn't want to risk any of our lives!" she continued, heated and hurt.

"Rue." Kip spoke louder, bringing the fox to pause.

"I know. But this was my project. And this is my decision. I am thankful for what all of you did, of course I am!" a hot tear ran along her cheek, "But I get to decide how I live my life. What I'm willing to risk it for. And I'm deciding the potential good this epilogue could do for everyone here, unlocking them from the limits of this world, is worth the risk of a single life. So long as that life is my own since I couldn't force anyone else to do that."

Kip's eyes lay sharp and confident upon Rue's worried face, "I'm taking responsibility, which is the only way the epilogue will progress any further than where it sits now. We can't, we simply can't, run it without doing a live test."

"And I'll be that test subject." Silver said.

Everyone blunk. Then again, before turning back to her.

"You heard me." she continued, "I'm taking your place. And I'm not taking no for an answer. It's my medal. Without me there's no fuel. And if it doesn't work out, well." Silver looked over the chess table in thought.

"If it doesn't work out, we'll need a brilliant mind to figure out how to make it work. And I wouldn't mind seeing our world opened up a little more. I've always wondered what a different sky might look like draped over the Barrens…" Her stubborn tone died down to sincerity as she admitted that consideration.

"Silver, I can't let you do that." Kip said as she grabbed Silver's arm and attempted to turn her back to them. All the while George and Rue reaffirmed the same to the bot.

"You can, and you will." Silver stated, locking eyes with her human double. "I said my mind's made up. It feels right."

"But…"

"Now how do we do this?" Silver asked, looking over the group.

George and Rue looked back to Kip begging her response, begging her to cut this short.

Kip looked deep into Silver's tired eyes as they shared a wordless exchange.

Then, she smiled.

"Okay then. Welcome to the team, Silver. I think it goes without saying we're heading back to Refuge. We'll need Rem for what's next." Kip said as confidently as she could manage as she felt her eyes tear up at the sacrifice Silver was offering.


End file.
